Beach City, Corals, and some other junk
by FrenziedAuthor
Summary: Matthew Corals, just a simple everyday home insurance representative, is sent to Beach City to look over some rather...strange files; all of which involve mass damage to the city; continuous damages repeated over a short time span; and to set up a small branch of the company with him as the sole employee. And with a name like Beach city, he's sure it will be pretty normal, right?
1. Chapter 1

"Um, so what happened exactly?" Asked a rather tall man, 6'3 to be exact, he stood wearing a plain blue work suit with a white undershirt beneath; the unyielding heat on this windless day had made his glasses fog; his dark ash brown hair dripped with sweat which was only made worse considering he had been standing outside in the sun for about an hour.

Even despite his height the man stood timidly even in his dull looking suit, he was clearly feeling uneasy about the situation, especially from the rather short elderly lady standing in front of him who was just finished telling him a rather bizarre story which he really couldn't believe.

"A giant hand flew into town and we left the city just to be safe, oh it was good ting to because before anyone knew it the hand fell out of the sky blowing up half the city."

"Uh huh." He said ,shaking his head.

'She has to be senile' was all he could repeat in his head, considering her constant chatter about monsters; strange women with powers; and now a giant flying hand from space he couldn't wait to speak to someone more...normal.

"Mom where are you! We have orders waiting to-there you are." Called a middle aged man with dark skin and a thick Ghanaian accent as he walked out of the small pizza place which he could only guess was his; he walked out wearing a pale green work shirt covered by a white apron with several smudges littering it; brown shorts reaching just above knees; and a pair dark tanned work shoes with a hairnet finishing up his work attire.

"Mom please don't bother the young man, he must be hungry having to stand outside in this heat." All around the three was just pure sunlight bathing the surrounding stores and no wind wherever he'd go, so the sound of a refreshing meal and drink sounded like a good idea albeit with the name of the small restaurant being 'Fish Stew Pizza' he'd rather not risk it.

"So then mister...?" Realizing that the man didn't even give his name to the proprietor standing before him he began to stutter his response.

"O-oh me? I'm so sorry I'm being rude, the names Matthew Corals." Looking at the newly acquainted Matthew the other man felt like he need to properly greet Matthew as well.

"Hello Matthew, my name is Kofi Pizza and this is my mother Nanefua; and this beautiful slice of Beach City is Fish Stew Pizza. So then mister Matthew what would you like to order?" With all of their names being known Matthew began to smile weakly feeling like his only choice was to go inside and try the food just to be polite, but he luckily remembered why he was there in the first place.

"I'm so sorry but I-I'm actually here on business!" Matthew happily said aloud, looking at Kofi with a smile. "I'm your new local House Insurance representative and I'm here to look into the apparent damages at all the local establishments; houses:; and the city as a whole, and from the information regarding *cough, cough* 'giant hands falling from the sky' I was hoping-"

"Oh please don't get me started, hands were not 'falling' from the sky."

'Yes! Finally someone who's not going on about a giant hand!" Matthew cheered inside his head, feeling like he could have a actual conversation about the recent events regarding the city and the-

"There was only one." Kofi stated which put Matthew in a rather awkward moment; trying to finish his thoughts and speak at the same time.

"Err-ex-excuse me?"

"There was only one hand, and it didn't 'fall' from the sky it came crashing down over by the beach beneath the lighthouse, go talk to the people living there, they know all about what happened." Kofi stated as he began to go back inside his pizzeria with his mother Nanefua following behind him, leaving Matthew standing alone in the heat feeling defeated.

Turning around he look all around Beach City to see that it wasn't as destroyed as his other interviews said, everywhere he looked he could see some rather inexpensive damages ranging from simple patches on roofs, to several holes riddling the marina.

Looking at the lighthouse Matthew began to remember of the people who had lived below it, he had even saw a path leading to a part of the beach he didn't noticed before.

"Alright, maybe the people living there will be more normal then everyone else."


	2. Chapter 2

The house looked normal enough, with brown boards covered the whole of the beach house was topped with a light tanned roof with screen windows letting the radiant shines of the sun blast in; none of that was what worried me, it was the giant statue placed under the light house.

She had what looked like eight arms most of which was missing their hands; four of which had been spread around with only one having a hand, the other four seemed to be holding up the beach house.

(Gulp) "This is going to be...interesting." I said to no one in particular as I made my way up the dirt path leading to the home which had led up to stairs, following these I had made it up to the front door in but a minute or so.

"Hello my name is Matthew, hello my name is Matthew." I quietly chanted to myself preparing for my hopeful final interview for the day.

"Hello my name is Matthew, hello my name is-"

"Steven." Was all I heard as I was unknowingly cut off, this had taking me a second to realize but as soon as my brain had started to work again I shot back a bit looking in front of me.

"What?" Was all I could muster together, looking in front of me it could see the once closed door wide open with no one standing there.

"Are you okay?" Called out a young voice from beneath me, looking down I saw a little boy holding open the door. He had curly black and was just tall enough to reach past my kneecaps and looked rather 'large' for a kid his size. He wore a pinkish T-shirt with a golden star in the middle; had blue jeans with light blue cuffs; and a pair of flip flops which a colour matching the pink of his shirt.

Realizing that i was just standing there not doing my job I began to eagerly look for my train of thought, seeing as I was finally able to speak began to clear my throat and began my rehearsed greeting.

"Uh, yes hello my name is Matthew Cor-"

"Hey Steven who's at the door!" Called out a feminine voice interrupting me.

"I don't know Amethyst, it's some tall man in a fancy suit and he hasn't told me his name yet." Replied the young boy whom I could only guess was Steven.

"Steven you know what Pearl says about talking to strangers." Called out the voice who I could accurately guess as Amethyst.

'Stranger!? I hope I didn't give them the wrong impression, I can't have this kinda of problem on my first day, what will the townspeople people think? What will my superiors think!?' Problems began to spin around in my head from minor to serious, even to the outrageous, they spun to fast that I started to feel dizzy and everything began to get dimmer and dimmer.

"Whoa..." *Thud*


	3. Chapter 3

'Ugghhh...' Where am I?

Lifting my head up I felt small traces of drool leave my mouth which I quickly cleaned with my bare hand, which then left my bare hand wet with drool.

Then finally looking around all I could see was fuzzy blurs everywhere around me, looking down I could see that I was sitting at a desk with several pieces of paper work and pens covering them. After taking a closer look over the desk I had found my glasses which were laying to my left close to the edge, I grabbed them finally taking in their soft blue hues mixed together creating my fantastic pair of loving glasses.

After putting them on my vision cleared and I could see that I was surrounded by several others all of which I could remember; all ranging from many years ago to just simple acquaintances but they're stares were telling me that they were happy for me, I tried to open my mouth to talk but nothing came out not even a peep.

"Good luck."

"This is going to be one heck of an experience."

"Awesome assignment Mat!"

So many voices came flooding into my mind, looking up I saw the people surrounding me slowly disappear into shadow as i was being pulled into a bright light. Before I knew it I was sitting in a car looking out an to see people waving at me with smiles, I tried reaching to them to try an stay with them, my outstretched arm closing the gap.

SLAM!


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't want to go!" I screamed out loud shooting upright from where I had laid.

Gasping for air I had sat there trying to smooth down my breathing until I had realized something.

"Where am I...?" I asked out quietly only to become terrified by a sudden response from a fairly feminine voice,

"You're in our house." Quickly looking around he could see several silhouettes across the room I assumed were people, I could only guess seeing as they were just blurs to me.

"And umm, who are you again?" I squinted being only able to ask who was there and not being able to see who I was talking to.

"Oops, sorry about that hehe..."

'Wait, that voice sounds familiar.' I began to think on who the voice could belong to, being only able to see a pink blur move across my line of sight.

Before I knew it I had my glasses held in front of my face by rather small plump hands.

"Umm, thank you?" I said not knowing whom I was thanking, while taking them and putting them comfortably where they belonged.

Looking around with my restored vision I could see that I was in a small quaint home, with me sitting on a small couch that was actually surprisingly comfortable, with the small boy I knew as Steven standing in front of me, then looking past him around what looked like a kitchen were three strange women; all of whom were looking plainly at me.

"So we just going to stand and stare at each other or...?" Questioned the small...purple one?

She sat behind a counter, most likely on a small chair or stool, resting her head in her palms staring uneasily to the two others who stood besides her. She had long wavy lavender hair which had covered up the left half of her face, and from what I could see she was wearing a black tank top with a strange purple...rock, lodged in her chest?

Looking two the others around her I was astonished by the sight of the tall one, she was easily 7" feet tall at the least and she sported a rather cubed hair style and dark pink skin, she stood wearing a one piece jumpsuit with a half star pattern which consisted of different shades of pink, the rest of her jumpsuit the was split between black and a brownish red colour on each side.

"Umm yes, well...we're sorry for the inconvenience but you see you surprised us, with the whole collapsing at our doorstep." Said the final woman with a faint uneasy chuckle.

Looking at her she had a fairly pale complexion when compared to the other two and a very prominent nos-err, gem placed on her forehead, she had orange swept back hair and wore a cyan coloured top with a yellow star resting in the centre, the top was then tied at the waist with a ribbon which was a darker shade of blue, she also wore amber coloured leggings with just stopped before her knees.

She stood closest to my height which was rather comforting considering the strong height difference between the others and I; leaving me the second tallest, obviously beaten by the giant women.

Then after realizing what she had said I nearly screamed out a response,

"Wait, I collapsed?" I asked trying to remember what had happen, from the start of the day I had my plan going smoothly, looking over any and all possible damages, to then my introductions to most of the citizens, all of which then lead lead to where I am now.

"When did this happen?!" I looked at everyone with worry written on my face, and nobody but the purple one answering me.

" I dunno? Like two hours ago I think?" She shrugged her arms seemingly not sure as to when it had happen.

"Two hours, I'm behind schedule!" I shot up terrified as to how much time had actually passed, I began to pace back and forth muttering incoherent words.

"This is bad, I'm so far behind, what am I going to tell the company, I can't even get through my first day with messing up...I can't even introduce myself correctly." I wallowed out in despair being on my own little world of increasing calamity.

"Well why not try again?" Said Steven as he stood there looking at me with a confused look...

"Well err, the reason is..." I had nothing, no response to him and no excuse for myself.

'Why not just try again?' I told myself mentally, which then led to me looking at everyone else calmly seeing how I had held this situation as an overly exaggerated problem. I took a deep and began to ready my practiced introduction over in my head.

"Hello, my name is Matthew Corals and I'm your new house insurance representative."I said with a half terrified smile, looking at everyone I began to see that they were just staring, which then gave me 'Did I mess up!' mindset until I got a response.

"Steven Universe!" I looked down to see the little boy named Steven extending his open hand, waiting for mine.

"Nice to meet you mister Universe." I greeted extending my own hand and shaking his, then looking up I could see that the three women had begun to leave the little kitchen and head towards us.

The first one to reach me was the purple one, and she stood there apparently stretching her arms while just looking at me.

"Sup, my names Amethyst." She then extended her right arm to shake my own.

Then next was the giant one, I looked up to look her in the glasses waiting for her own intro.

"Garnet, it's a pleasure." She said rather plainly and left without a handshake, she did turn around however and gave me a thumbs up, which was still a nice gesture as she stood next to Amethyst.

Finally coming last was the pale one, she had quietly appeared in front of me which startled me.

"Hello, my name is Pearl. It's so nice to finally be properly introduced." Pearl had cheerfully rather greeted, albeit leaving me feeling rather humiliated at the 'Improper Introduction' hours earlier.

Pearl had went and stood next to the other two with Steven making his way in front of the three. I was finally feeling up to task and felt both the need to continue my work as normal and to just call it a night, but after quick consideration I swiftly chose the former over the latter .

"Well then thanks for finally allowing me to get myself back together, I would like to talk to you all about you're home." I asked feeling cheerful, feeling like I could finish the day off well, but from the look that both Steven and Pearl gave me.

"Umm, sorry to tell you this Matthew but it's getting pretty late out." Steven said which confused me.

"Yes, we're very sorry mister Coral's but Steven is right it's getting rather dark out and Steven need his sleep." Pearl voiced out her concern and then proceeded to gesture towards their clock, looking at it I saw that it was 8:45pm.

"Wait what!" I panicked again.

"But how! It was just turning four o'clock when I got here." Looking at them I quickly stared at Amethyst questionly.

"I thought you said I collapsed two hours ago?" She then shrugged and simply replied,

"I don't know how to tell time."

Looking around I quickly eyed the door and quickly walked towards it and immediately spotted my shoes which I then put on, I was about to leave but then stopped and turned around to look to all four staring at me. Feeling like if I just upped and left it would have been just plain rude, so I quickly bowed my head.

"Thanks for having me." Was all I said as I quickly sprinted back to the city leaving the small beach house behind me.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm taking a shower tonight for sure." I said to myself noticing the stench that I gave off, the smell of sweat was never a good thing to me.

I had just left the beach house and it rather, unique, owners and had just turned the rocky corner to see the small city light up the dark night. I trudged on though the sand with my black sneakers taking in bits of it at a time, I could feel it grow after a while which was getting rather annoying. Thinking about today it was just to tiring and stressful, and I knew tomorrow would be the same.

"Why did it have to be me?" I groaned out loud with my own stomach joining me on chorus. Noticing it's cries for food I simply placed my left hand over it and felt my hunger grow.

"Don't worry buddy, I'll try find something at home to eat." I try to assure myself, noting full well the lack of any real food that waited for me back at my new 'home'.

I kept on walking through the sandy beach taking in the sites of both the dirty and the ocean, even if my first real day was a complete mess up I couldn't help but think how amazing the view was; the moons light had been shining off the ocean waves which gave of the allusion of diamonds rippling on the waters surface, while the city held a more brightness that stood against the dark night surrounding it.

And with me taking in the views of both sights I saw something that had me almost at tears, and gave my stomach a happy growl.

"Donuts." Was all I could say while looking at the exterior of the small donut shop in front of me, looking at it I could see the giant donut resting on top of the building, it's walls were patterned with both blue and pink which had helped made it stand out with 'Big Donut' written on the front of the shop.

I gleefully walked my way to it and stopped at the front door with pure joy radiating from my very existence, until I had looked at the small piece of paper that was stuck to the door from the inside, open 7:00am-8:00pm from the very top to the bottom, save for both Friday's and Saturdays where it had closed at 10:00pm.

I looked at my fairly cheap watch, it's rubber bands wrapped around my wrist holding the small digital clock held on to it, 8:23pm was what it shown.

"Why, cruel fate why do you torment me?" I overly emotionally cry out, with my eyes staring into the store looking at the donuts that were held behind a simple glass container, but to me it was a glass prison.

While staring at the delicious pastries I noticed a door in the back of the store open and a small curly haired blonde girl coming out of the back, she was carrying several boxes that held the Big Donut logo. As she was coming past the display case of donuts I notice that she was quite small, also as she passed the display case I noticed that she saw me which caused her to simply wave me into the store.

Slowly reaching for the door I was surprised to feel it open, unlocked even we'll pass closing.

"Hey there, come on in." She called out to me as I stood holding the door open not knowing what to do, but I did what she asked and strolled into the store.

"Hey there I'm Sadie, and I'm guessing your that new home insurance guy." She said cheerfully as she began to open a box, she pulled out two handfuls of small sugar packs and began to walk towards a coffee machine that rested to the left of the store.

"Yes I am, but how did you know? I do think we've met today." I said both answering her question and asking my own, she had finished with the sugar and began to continue to open another box.

"Well with a small city people tend to talk about the new guy moving in, it also helps when you talk to almost everyone in Beach City about their homes. There you are!" She finished nearly shouting as she pulled out a hand full of plastic forks.

I began to feel rather out of place as I just stood there not knowing what to do,

"Err, you need help?" I asked feeling like I should be doing something to help.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm almost done here anyway. (Would have been done earlier if Lars were here)." She declined my offer while picking up the last box, it also sounded like she said something from under her breath but I couldn't understand what or even if she had said anything.

"Sorry for dragging you in here by the way, just wanted to meet the new face of the town." She called out apologetically while she made her way to the cooler containing several cool drinks ranging from Apple juice to some pretty extreme looking energy drinks; energy drinks Sadie had pulled out from the small box she held and began to restock the cooler with the beverage.

"It's no problem, I had actually just finished for the night and was looking for a small snack" *Growl*...

"Sound like you need more than a 'small' snack." My stomach had voiced out its own need for food rather well, with Sadie staring questioningly waiting for for me to correct myself, for my stomachs sake.

"I'll get two hot dogs please...and a yummy apple juice." I ask awkwardly with a uneasy smile shown on my face, thankfully Sadie had gotten to my order and in no time time she had it in hand: it was surprisingly fast actually.

As she gave them to me I had given her a gracious thank you before reaching for my wallet which should have been in my pocket held in my suit but I couldn't find it, looking down I saw my plain white undershirt...my undershirt...

"Where's my suit!" I panicked, looking down in horror at my attire.

"Where did it g-The beach house!" I shouted out beach house knowing full well that my little 'incident' left me in this situation.

"Oh, you mean Stevens house?" Sadie asked calmly, unfazed by my loud state as if she had been use to this kind of situation before.

"Yes..." I quietly answer her while looking at my lack of funds, I began to look at the food held in front of me sad to know that I could not pay for them.

"It's alright take them, their on the house." Sadie offered with a half smile leaving me speechless but also gracious.

"Really?" I asked not sure if she was serious, I even felt kinda bad being the outsider but what she said to me had calmed those thoughts.

"It's ok, think of as a welcome basket, except without the basket."

"Th-thanks, I'm really thankful for the gift it means a lot." I happily thank Sadie with her simply shrugging it off, all the while trying to hold back a smile.

"Well I better get going before it gets to late." I say graciously, looking down I grab onto the hotdogs and the Apple juice; holding onto both hotdogs with my left hand and the juice with the right.

"Alright, see you..." She had paused as if trying to find what to say next,

"this is kinda strange but I didn't get your name."

My shoulders had fallen only a little with my mind slapping itself for forgetting to introduce myself at the start of all this.

"Hehe sorry, my name is Matthew, Matthew Corals." I had finally greeted her, even if it was the end of this encounter it's nice to become acquainted with someone else before the end of the night.

"Well see your around Matthew." She said her farewell as I to did as I left the shop and began to walk into the city.

Passing several buildings down the lit street I began to fiercely devour the gift that I held in my left hand in little time before I had a chance to open my bottle of apple juice, I had slowly drinker the beverage wanting to enjoy it before finishing it.

I was nearing my residence as I had passed several familiar building that I had passed earlier today, I walked down what looked like Boardwalk Street, and before I knew it I had come across Chesapeake Street; the street that I would call home.

I began to feel a sense of accomplishment build up inside, I felt like even though this was a rough day that it was all just a passing storm and that tomorrow was going to be easier, better.

I was coming up to where I had moved in, it was a simple two story building, with what little was in there when I had left this early afternoon it would look pretty barren which for me right now was actually wanted as I had no intention of organizing my makeshift office that had would be placed on the first floor. The second floor however is where I called home, the floor where my own personal belongings rested, where my sweet precious bed was placed; the soft satin coloured sheets covered with a dull blue blanket over it, my new home.

"Oh come on!"

Scratch that, the first floor is no longer barren...


	6. Chapter 6

*Yawn*

"So bright..." I groggily muttered, looking around the blurred room I slowly sat up feeling yesterday's stress aching through my body, and if not for what had happen during the day, last night definitely would have caused this aching.

(Flash Back Time!)

"Oh come on!"

My anguish that I thought ended had instead taken form in front of me; several rather large boxes had been left out on the side of the street, even several filing cabinets had been left out for me in front of the door of my home/office.

"Why...why..." Was all I said while making my way to the pile of boxes and looked wondering why everything kept going like this for me.

"I just can't leave these outside." I scratched my head knowing full well what I had to do. I began to make my way to the closest box and proceeds to pick it up, it's weight was not to bad; rather it just felt like paper was all that was packed into this box.

I had brought this and several other boxes, most of which were heavier then the first, inside the office floor all placed rather poorly to the side, all this had left out of breath but looking out the door I knew that this was the easy part.

The filing cabinets were sitting there taunting me, all five of them has been left outside waiting for me to put them in their place...

(End of Flashback!)

I reach out to my little end table that was conveniently placed next to my bed and took my glasses in hand, placing them comfortably on my nose. The bedroom that I had woke in had little to no decorations with only a dresser filled with my personal clothing being the only piece of furniture, save for my bed and end table, placed in my room.

Standing up I looked down to see the mahogany wood floorboards creak under my light weight, I also saw that I was still in my dress pants along with the rest of my clothing from yesterday. I knew that I had to change out of these dirty clothes for the day ahead of me, and just for the sake of decency. From just smelling them I could tell that they still reeked with sweat all because I didn't have a chance to take a shower like I had told myself last night.

"I'm so happy that I'm off today." I happily cheered myself up knowing that I had been truthful of what I had just said seeing that yesterday had been Friday.

So after a quick wash and small breakfast of rather plain oatmeal I was ready for the day.

Walking down the stairs I looked at what I wore, and was happy with what I had on; baggy brown summer shorts had left me feeling happily ventilated, the weight of a small cellular phone I felt in my pockets; my clean olive green shirt which was fitted to me comfortably with its crying red apple design placed on the center of the shirt; and my well worn black sneakers were fit nice and snug to my feet, these shoes I had for a rather long while which was evident from the visible damage that anyone could see, small patches of off coloured fabric covering several holes.

Walking down the stairs into the soon to be office floor I looked over to the door which was to my right, sun rays were shining through the windows leaving the room bright, but looking to my left I began to feel upset.

It was the pile of office supplies along with the filing cabinets from last night, I began to walk to the door with daggers being focused on them with my glare.

After quickly walking through the door I looked down both sides of the street, people had been walking around enjoying the warm rays bathing the city, I even enjoyed it feeling a nice breeze breathing cool winds through the area.

I started my first joyous day off by walking to my left which had led to a cross section with both my street and Main Street, which was the road that I began to take. Strolling down I began to take in the surround buildings which were mainly apartment buildings and small houses. Looking around I saw that they were all well kept, with people leaving them to do whatever they had planned to do for the day, some even waved happily at me which left me quickly waving back with a smile unknowingly forming on my face.

"This isn't half bad, I'm actually enjoying myself today." I cheerfully proclaimed to myself feeling happy with today, this had been a complete turnaround from yesterday.

I had kept on my way until I had reach a small park which was rather quaint. I had passed this park several times yesterday but I didn't have the time to actually admire it. Feeling the need to finally take in the views I strolled my way through the park, walking down one of the paths that had been built for this very reason.

I had kept on walking admiring the scenery, the trees that had been placed around perfectly with people even sitting under them hidden under the shadow of its leaves; some of who even fell asleep.

With the sun beating down gentle rays of heat and the perfect breeze breathing in cool winds I felt the easing of my muscles, feeling this I quickly found a park bench and strolled my way to it and began to relax and simply breathe.

Birds were chirping energetically with their chirps being music to my ears, with nothing but soft noises resonating across the city and a steady echoing sound that was slowly growing louder.

"What is that?" Curiosity was slowly dragging me from my lovely afternoon, a subtle chanting noise was slowly making its way from the city to the park, but after a short time listening I finally realized what the sound was.

"Mayor Dewey! Mayor Dewey!" From around the corner a small propaganda van rolled in with its egg white body covered in writing, with both Mayor Dewey and re-elect being coloured red and blue, yet the most prominent feature of the van was the large replica head placed on top.

"This seems interesting." Was all I could say, with me becoming slightly startled when I had received a response.

"Don't be, this happens all the time." Turning around I saw a pale looking teenager with white hair standing behind me, he wore a faded blue sweater and orange phat shorts; which had given me a strange rush of memories of my own teenage years, but that was quickly subsided when I noticed what he held in his hand.

"Hey, I'm holding a rave tonight and I'm busting out as many invites as I can, if your interested spread the word." Before I could ask what or even where this was happening he handed me the flier that he held and began to go on his way.

I tried to call out to ask him questions that were still in my mind but they stopped before I could say anything, stuck in my throat out of fear, I didn't know him or anyone else in this city, at least not personally.

Sitting there not sure what to do, all I could do was look down at the flier that I held in my hand...and place it on the bench that I sat on and leave it as I began to walk away continuing my day.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun was still hanging high in the sky, looking down to my small digital watch I could see that it was just past noon, it had just turned 12:03.

"I really should get my wallet back..." I told myself while walking past the boardwalk and I just having had just laid eyes on the familiar big donut that sat on top of its building, it was a rather cheering sight knowing that when I did get my wallet and shirt back that I would most likely return to thank Sadie again for last night.

After walking past the Big Donut and several minutes of strolling on the beach I had turned the corner of the beach line and I immediately noticed the quaint beach house that sat under the figure of the giant woman carved into the face of the cliff, this sight was still uneasy for me to see but I had to press on.

After a quick jog to the bottom of the dirt path I had to take in deep breathes, having become exhausted from my short jog.

"How am I...already...out of breath?" I gasped out wanting to know why I was so out of shape even though the answer was already well known to myself; the lack of any physical activities and my natural thin figure left me at odds with any form of exercise.

Having caught my breath I began to make my way up the familiar dirt slope up to the small wooden stairs, this also lead to the actual house where I had left my wallet and suit top.

"Here goes nothing." I said before knocking on the door, this had received a feminine reply calling out "Be right there!" And from the voice I could easily recognize who's it belonged to, I was reaffirmed when the door in front of me opened.

"Oh it's you, what bring you back here mister Coral?" Pearl asked looking at me with a surprised look, I guess she wasn't expecting me to be back this soon.

"Sorry if I'm intruding on anything, I'm actually here because I had forgotten something here last night." I politely informed her, this had given me a cheerful reply from her.

"Oh, so that who that jacket belonged to." She said while placing her palms against each other, seeming happy to finally know who it belonged to.

"Yes, I'm actually wondering if I'd be able to go inside and get it, if you wouldn't mind of course?" I asked hoping to retrieve my belongings, with how today was going I was certain that this would be the case,

"I'm sorry but that's not possible." She said with a pondering look about her.

"Why is that?" I said feeling like whatever the cause was my fault, did yesterday make them all despise me? So many negative thoughts had ran through my mind, all of which had me as the central problem.

"Steven ran out with it, he actually went out looking for you." She informed me looking in thought, leaving me at odds with myself, I was left with two options; leave and run around the city looking for a single person or stay waiting on the beach line hoping that he returns early.

"If you'd want to, it's completely fine to wait inside for Steven to come back." Pearl had offered me the option of a better alternative compared to my previous thought, looking outside and then back at Pearl I could see the minimal view of the house; and from my memory of last night I knew that the interior was leagues better then my own house and the beach for that matter.

"That sounds great." Was all I could say feeling nice to be actually invited in the house, a lot nicer then collapsing on the doorstep.

Looking forward I noticed that she had moved to the side holding her arm out inviting me in. Having taking her invitation I began to walk through the doorway and into the familiar living room, I made my way a good ways in until I stood between the kitchen counter and what looked like what should be the living room; it was actually fairly difficult to tell where either began or ended.

Looking beyond both however was what looked like some sort of panel with a strange door placed behind it, before I could ask on these however Pearl began to speak.

"Steven should be right back, please make yourself comfortable." She then began to make her way towards the far end of the room towards the panel, she had passed it and stood in front of the door. To my surprise it had not opened like any normal door should, it had first lit up with a single white light and quite disturbingly opened looking organic in nature. Before I could ask about where she was going, or even what I should do she had walked into the unknown room leaving me alone in their house.

"..."

This is gonna be a while, isn't it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello everyone reading this! I would like to thank all the people out there who take time out of their day to leave reviews, honestly it means a lot to me whenever I read a new review.**

 **Right now though with the story I feel like I kinda ran face first into a problem with the whole home insurance thing (I have**

 **no idea what Matthew actually has to do with his job). So until I make a plan or just leave it in the dust, nothing on that will be done, save for the whole convenient write off of 'Today was a busy day' thing.**

 **But seriously, after looking at the amount of views I would like to thank you all again.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

It's been like half an hour...what do I do...?

Sitting alone and waiting for Pearl, Steven, or anyone for that matter to return, because with the situation I'm in things would definitely be easier if I weren't alone.

"..." Staying sat in place all I could do was wait for someone to talk to, because I felt like if I had wandered about I would be stepping over my limits, then I would instantly be back to where I was last night, save for the fact that I'm conscious this time.

After briefly looking down at my watch I had seen that it had indeed been half an hour (32 minutes to be exact) since my arrival, and with how things seemed to be going nowhere I began to stand up from the couch, but not before I had footsteps coming from outside.

They were steady yet heavy, with each step getting louder as they grew nearer. After a little while came a rather hefty looking man, I know I never met him yesterday as I made sure to remember every one of my clients, but this hadn't stopped him or I from staring at each other awkwardly. From what I saw he was dressed rather casually, he wore a plain white tank top, grey shorts that had looked like they were at the knees, and a pair of sandals.

Aside from his attire he was obviously balding yet kept long locks of hair grown out, he also had a very apparent tan.

"Err, hello...am I missing out on something or what?" He asked aloud standing in the doorframe wondering why I was here, not knowing entirely what to say I began to stumble for words to say and couldn't get anything to leave my mouth. I was beginning to slowly piece together a coherent sentence until I had heard the sound of a familiar voice.

"Dad, we need to be quick! We still need to find-" Zooming past the man came Steven, looking at me, obviously surprised to find me back in his home, with me more so after seeing that he held my jacket in hand.

"Matthew?" Was all he could say, seemingly finishing his previous sentence. This had also left the older man surprised but also genuinely cheerful as he looked at me with a grin.

"So this is the guy you've been looking for." He said cheerfully as he began to ruffle up Stevens curled hair, which in turned pushed it down to slightly cover his face.

"We've been looking everywhere for you Matthew, we checked Funland, the arcade, Fish Stew Pizza, and everywhere else in the city." Steven said nearly shouting out as he did, he seemed to be bursting with energy as he was excitedly pointed out the several places he had been.

"Really? I didn't think you'd go out of your way just for my jacket." I said feeling a little guilt build up knowing that he tried to look for me for the day.

"Of course I would, after everything that happened last night I felt kinda bad that you left your jacket, so I thought that I would go and find you and return it." Steven beamed with a cheerful smile letting me know that he did indeed felt the need to return my jacket in person, even going as far to travel all through the city just to find me, this had left me feeling a small grin forming on my face.

"Thanks Steven, I really mean it." As I thanked Steven he made his way to where I stood and handed me my missing suit piece. Looking down at the blue fabric I felt a ping of happiness build up and my small grin form to a full fledged smile.

"Well then, now that's all done with it time for something really important." Said the middle aged man standing on the doorway, looking at him I began to wonder what he must be talking about until he had answered that thought for me.

"I think it's about time we finally were properly introduced to each other don't you think?" He said jokingly with me feeling somewhat bewildered that we haven't had a proper greeting this whole time.

"Oh yes, I'm so sorry!" I say quickly holding my hands up feeling the need to gather my thoughts.

"Matthew Corals." I reach out with my hand open, ready to continue on with this days.

But with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone, sorry it took me a little while to get this out, but I was figuring out how to end this chapter but I finally knew what I had to do, the next chapter will be out soon though so hurray for that!**

 **enjoy!**

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"So this is your car wash?"

Standing before the aforementioned 'It's a Wash' were myself happily wearing my jacket which had been returned to me early this day, and the father and son duo Greg and Steven.

Looking at the car wash it seemed pretty well kept with its form illuminated by the orange glow of the setting sun, and with what I've been told this was especially impressive considering that Greg was both the owner and sole employee.

"Yup, ain't she a beaut." Confirmed Greg showing his deep pride in his business nodding his head with his son mimicking his father.

"It's pretty impressive, must help being self employed." I asked out of both curiosity and genuine surprise.

"Yup, being able to pay for both Steven and the gems err...costs is pretty handy." Greg said leaving me at odds with whatever 'costs' he mentioned, but this all blew over rather quickly, seeing how entranced I am with the prospect of new acquaintances and seeing how quickly things had moved on from earlier today.

(Flashback time!)

"Matthew Corals." I reach out with my hand open, ready to continue on with this day with a genuine smile shining on my face.

"Greg Universe it's nice to finally meet you." He firmly grasped my hand in a fairly strong grip, but considering how today was going (and the short time of isolation) it was great to be meeting more people.

"Considering all the talk I heard yesterday about the new guy moving into town it's nice to finally meet you mister Corals." Looking at Greg and his cheerful smile I began to feel the constant use of my surname start to feel a bit overused, and considering that I'm finally beginning to feel at ease I decided to change that.

"Please, Call me Matthew." From this I saw Greg taken a little back from this and then gave a small smile.

"Well of course, nice to meet you Matthew." From then we ended our handshake and from looking down at the smaller man he looked down at his son.

"Well then my little shtoo-ball, aren't you going to ask Matthew what you wanted to ask him?" With this I was believably confused and with myself looking at Steven with his mouth open with a giant smile taken shape and his eyes shown with what looked liked stars taking shape, I'm pretty sure this was just my mind playing tricks on me but even I wasn't to sure about that.

"We're going to give you your first tour around the city!" His arms shot up as he leaped into the air, with me feeling both confused and ecstatic with what would be coming next.

(Flashback stop!)

Looking around I could see the sun beginning to fall towards the horizon, and the brightness of the day slowly easing on the city, with everything that had happened and the places that I've seen I was finally feeling familiar with my new home. From this morning to right now, I wasn't expecting to be standing where I am now, in front of a car wash with a family that was nice enough to show me this city and to return my jacket (and my wallet as well) back to me.

"It's starting to get pretty late sporto I think it's time to get you back home and get ready for some sleep." Turning to look at Greg I could see him looking at Steven who had been running around with a hose in hand as he washed the van leaving it literally spotless of any dirt.

"Aww, but I'm not even that (yawn) tired." He said trying to fight off the impending wave of sleep fuelled yawns, by reflex Steven had rubbed his eyes with his palms, this had left both Greg and I smiling.

"You're not fooling anyone kiddo time to put you into bed." This time Steven had listen with just a quiet yawn as he let the hose fall to the ground and jumping into the back of the van. As I was just about to make my own way home Greg had called out to me, turning around I saw that he stood at the drivers side door looking at me confused.

"I'm willing to give you a ride home, if you'd want of course." Looking at the van and then at my surroundings I realized that it would take a while for me to make back home, it would be well after dark by that time, I however knew of one place I still had to get to before the end of the day.

"I really appreciate the offer but if it's ok, a quick drop somewhere else would be just as good." I said with a guilty smile, this left me knowing full well where my destination was.


	10. Chapter 10

"We can't be out of napkins, we just got a shipment in!" Shouted Sadie towards the back of the shop, the small blonde was currently restocking the various beverage machines that stood at the front of the sore all the while as I stood there in the doorway unnoticed...again.

"Hello?" I called out not knowing if this was a good time, Sadie had looked back to the doorway and noticed me, this had surprised her which led to her fumbling with the handful of condiments that she had held in her hands, but luckily enough none had met the floor.

"Oh! Hey Matthew sorry for the mess we're just restocking the store, come on in." Sadie said with a smile, I then took several steps into the donut shop and began looking around to notice that everything, save for the coffee station, was well stocked.

"Need any help?" I had offered but this was quickly replied with a simple 'not really' from Sadie as she quickly began to finish what she had started. After quickly finishing her up her task a voice called out from the back of the small store.

"Sadie, I'm tired of looking for those dumb napkins can't we just close up earl-" From around the corner came a rather lanky teenage boy, his curly orange tuft hair along with his violet coloured uniform fitting its wearer its half eaten donut designed displayed proudly on the front, this though was apparently wore over a long sleeved cream coloured shirt; he wore a black pair of jeans with a tear at the knees, I couldn't exactly tell if wether this was done on purpose for styling or was done by accident, with his very casual appearance however there was one very noticeable feature about this young boy, which were his opened earlobes.

Standing there looking at me confused, he was apparently unable to finish his original question as he was caught off guard from my sudden appearance, this however was switch to another more appropriate question.

"Uh Sadie, do you know this guy?" He pointed at me which had left me feeling a little uncomfortable as I began to scratch the back of my neck by reflex, luckily enough though Sadie had picked up on this and immediately began to introduce us both to each other.

"Yeah! Lars this is Matthew, he just moved in recently." Lars, after hearing this, had just given me a questioning look but just had quickly looked over to Sadie as she continued on with the the introductions by looking towards me with a soft smile.

"And Matthew this is Lars, my 'coworker'."Sadie's emphasis on coworker had me quite confused, not knowing the full context of this however I couldn't make any sort of assumptions, but from the eye rolling Lars had done I knew this wasn't anything serious.

"It's nice to meet you." I greeted whole heartedly, all the while extending my hand to ready for a good shake, this was however met with nothing but a uneasy feeling from both him and I.

"Yeah..." He groaned out seemingly evading my hand shake, he instead looked over to Sadie with a question in mind.

"Sadie, I couldn't find those napkins so I'm just gonna head out early." From this Sadie could only look towards Lars with slight annoyance.

"What? Lars, we still have half an hour before close up." She was visibly annoyed and began to stare at him and was just about to line up a good talking to, but before she could have another word in the matter Lars had spoke up.

"There's practically nothing, I know you got it P2." At this Sadie's attitude had turned a complete 180, a feint blush had burned through her cheeks and the frustration that had just been boiling had dissipated.

"I-I guess it alright, there's not much left to do." From hearing this Lars had happily began to make his way pass the doorway, but not before thanking Sadie for her apparent sacrifice.

The lanky boy had shot out the front door freely, off to do whatever he pleased, he had even forgotten to take off his uniform before leaving. Looking around i could see that Sadie had a sullen look formed upon her face, this left me feeling like I should do something to help, but as I was about to offer my own help Sadie had let out a heavy sigh.

"(Sigh) its ok, I'm ok." She looked over to me and just gave out a half smile.

"If it's alright with you I really should finish up before closing."

"S-sure, it's no problem." This was obviously my cue to leave, and seeing it I began to make my way out but not before turning around, looking over to Sadie I bowed my head on reflex.

"Thanks." With this I looked lifted my head and saw a genuine smile take place of her previous half one.

"No prob."

* * *

 **Shout out to toonfreak for predicting the future!**

 **But honestly I also want to thank everyone who reads this and to all of you who leave reviews, both of those really motivate me to keep on writing this. (Feeling kinda guilty leaving my other story in the dirt though.)**

 **But to put it simply, thank you all and you are all awesome, thanks.**


	11. Chapter 11

'Everything was going so well today, so how did I end up here!' I mentally screamed in my head, terrified as to what was happening...

(Flashback time!)

The morning went by fairly easy, woke up, had breakfast, then dressed up. But the second I took a step out of my house things seemed...strange...and hot. Looking around I could see that the sun was beating down hard on the city, surprisingly more so then when I had first worked. Waves of heat had formed on the roads which all left me worried and sweaty, I did not want what happened several days earlier to repeat it self, neither did I want people to worry about me feinting again, it would just be to much for me to handle.

"Phew, it's gotten really warm out..." Warm was definitely an understatement, if I was going to do anything today I knew I would have to find something cool me down, and where better then the boardwalk!

I make my way down the street for several minutes passing several people, some of whom I quickly recognized, all of who just like me thought it was a good idea to be out in this heat. Personally it wasn't as bad as I would have thought, considering that I wasn't in my work suit this was certainly a lot better, looking at what I had worn had helped too, even if it looked a little plain.

I had worn a blank white T-shirt worn for just the heat, it fit snug to me but yet left enough room for air to pass through leaving me a little more at ease; Olive cargo pants left my lower half well protected from the heat, these were perfect for today, they left my legs feeling well ventilated and held both my phone and most importantly my wallet; white socks were covered by the shoes that I had worn yesterday, it's patched work left me wondering how I could find such worn pieces of footwear comfortable but this I didn't even know.

After several minutes of walking through down the street, the heat radiating around me leaving me sweating bullets, somehow it seemed like it actually got hotter the closer I got to the boardwalk.

After a sweaty but quick march I eventually made it to turn that would leave me facing the entirety of the boardwalk, but before I could turn the corner I had heard a loud terrified shriek, the voice sounded young as it had cracked as it had screamed, this had left me to hurry around the corner to see what could possibly be happening.

I was met by an unusual yet terrifying sight, before me I saw a small boy with blonde curly hair standing terrified, he stood staring at an enormous creature, it had resembled a large salamander with bright orange scales covering it's body, only leaving reddish brown spots tracing down its back and leading into the entirety of its tail, steady flames were pouring out of its back leaving the area in its steady heat; its six legs coloured the same orange as the rest of its body, one half of its appendages were placed on the several buildings lining the boardwalk while the other was placed firmly on the wooden flooring; surprisingly though it held only one eye, it's green iris stared directly at the boy, with the other socket being filled with what looked to be a flaming red agate.

"(Whimper), wha-what's happening?" Cried out the terrified boy, looking at him I could see his legs were buckling as he stood terrified unable to love, this was met by the slow stalking of the salamander. This thing looked nearly as big as a small bus, this thing was dangerous and I had to do something, anything, but what could I do?

Without thought I took a swift step to the side and began to wave my arms around like a madman, screaming at the top of my lungs I ran towards the sandy beach with my brown hair swaying violently in the wind. Looking around I could see that the monster thankfully lost interest in the boy, but this left me in the undesirable position of interest.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" I shrieked as I ran as quick as I could possibly can, this left me at just about several feet ahead of the creature which was gaining on me...quickly.

(Flashback Done!)

'Everything was going so well today, so how did I end up here!' As panicked as I could ever possibly be I felt a surge of adrenaline pass through me, thankfully this left me at just about the same speed as the giant lizard that followed behind. As thankful as I was for this newfound speed this left me in so much of a haze of panic and sweat that I had just passed the Big Donut and unknowingly making my way further into the beachside, as well as the home of Steven.

I had eventually made my way to the turn that would leave me facing the small beach house, looking behind me though I could see that the creature was closing in quickly as it left its maw open revealing its teeth, this thankfully gave me a quick yet short jolt of energy as I began to outpace it once again, however 'it' had noticed this as well.

Seeing the flames on its back recede into its own body, a flurry of flames began to form deep in its throat, this was looking real bad as the flames began to brighten in colour, luckily enough for me however I had just reached the corner and quickly shot around it.

Without even needing to look back I felt the intense scorching heat behind me as I finally saw the small beach house that rested on its small hill.

"Help!" I yelled out hoping to capture the attention of anyone, this was met with a small figure make its way out the house, it's shape was tall and square, they motioned their hand into the home as if the call for help, turning around I saw that the Salamander had caught up without me noticing.

Panting with exhaustion and sweat pouring down my body I was quickly losing energy, my body was quickly feeling this as my arms weakly flung from side to side and my legs began to feel like rubber.

I was losing footing in the loose sand as one mistake left me see everything stop. I fell to the sand seeing every grain fly away. The monster slowly making its way to me.

This left me speechless as I closed my eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! Finally finished this chapter up and I really appreciate all the reviews you guys have been leaving, it's really awesome to see that you guys are enjoying this.**

 **I hope you guys will like this one!**

* * *

I closed my eyes and saw only darkness, yet nothing happened. All I could hear were aggressive growls as I sat fearful to even open my eyes.

"Gems, now!" Wait I knew this voice? Opening my eyes I was met face first with an amazing sight, the person I knew as Garnet was successfully holding the creatures gaping maw at bay as she held it open with two identical gauntlets, both of which had matched the colour pattern of her suit.

The Salamander began to shake furiously as it fought against the might of my defender, seeing that it was held in place a deep growl started as its flames began to recede back into itself, this I had quickly recognized.

I began to squirm as I tried to find any sort of footing as I knew what was coming, I was however was took by surprise when I was lifted suddenly by the collar of my shirt, before I could see who had taken me all I had heard was one simple word.

"Alleyoop." I shot into the sky with the strong grip of my collar still remaining along side both my legs supported by a sing purple arm.

"Wha-!" Looking down all I could see was raging flames spewing from the monstrous lizard with Garnet being pushed down further along the beach, both her and the creature had shrunk by the distance between us but yet just as quickly they both began to enlarge.

From what I could tell in my panicked haze we were at the very least 30 feet in the air, and we're falling to the sandy beaches uncomfortably quick.

"Wait!" I called out hoping somehow we would freeze in place, but that was just absurd as we were mere moments from landing. With a strong sense of adrenaline still running I felt nothing as we quickened our decent, my hair flying up with the wind and my glasses loosening their grip on my face, but luckily enough we had landed without a problem.

Looking over I could see that it was the small purple one named Amethyst that had miraculously brought me quite far away from the ensuing battle that had started before me, Amethyst had looked at me with a half grin seemingly comfortable with the monstrosity that was spewing flames madly.

"Just stay back, we got this thing in the bag." Before I could try say anything a sudden glow had shown from her chest, a bright purple shine lit up as she had somehow took grip on light itself as it took form, a whip had been pulled from her as she held it fully coiled.

"Whaaa..." Was all I could sound as I was in awe, my jaw dropping as I was taking in the spectacle as she had dashed towards the battle leaving only a trail of sand that had been kicked up behind her.

Charging head first I had looked over to the heated conflict to see that Garnet was being pushed back by the sea of flames spewing from the fiery beast, holding her gauntlets up as makeshift shields she was slowly but steadily holding her ground.

"Hey scaly over here!" Taunted Amethyst who had just thrown a sizeable boulder straight into the side of the Salamander, this had made it cease its continuous streams as it gave its attention towards its new foe, this however gave Garnet a vital opening.

Rushing forward within the blink of an eye she had met finally made her first attack on the beast, a single fist held up with her full might was sent directly to the body of the creature, and then immediately on contact the creature was sent flying far down the beach. A pained screech could be heard but this had been quieted by the immense boom that had echoed from the attack, the Salamander had been forced on its back leaving the sand below it to take the intense heat from its back.

Surprisingly enough though it had quickly recovered and rolled over on all fours standing on its newly created glass like footing, it stood leaving only the steady sound of its blazing back along side its angered growls as its one eye stared carefully at its foes.

"Matthew!" Shouted a voice as it took my attention from the battle that took place before me, looking over towards the voice I could see that it was Steven running in my direction.

"Steven?" Perplexed, all I could say was his name, but then after hearing the tell tale sound of massive bursts of flames I shot up on my feet also sprinting towards Steven.

"Steven get away! It's not safe!" Shouting at the top of my lungs I had warned the small running boy, but in my rush I didn't notice a small detail from Steven, that his eyes had viewed past me staring at some unknown threat as his face shown concern.

"Look out!" Steven had shouted on instinct hoping that I would listen to his warning, thankfully so I did and quickly turned my head to see one thing hurling towards me.

A giant ball of fire had past both Amethyst and Garnet was heading in my direction seemingly intentionally, looking at the faces of both Amethyst and Garnet they were both stuck in a state of shock and fear as the fireball was quickly closing the distance.

Staring at it feeling a sense of annoyance rather then fear, seemingly from the repeated near death encounters from this hour alone, the fireball had quickly became a blurred from my sight as I felt my self taken off my feet.

Once again I was taken away from danger, the difference however being both the direction and my saviour. Being swifted off my feet I was coming closer to the rocky face of the cliffside being taken away from path of the flames, looking up I could see the pale white face of Pearl which held intense worry.

"Steven!" She called out worryingly, twisting my head I could see why. The flaming mass that had missed me however was sent flying towards the young boy, leaving both Pearl and I visibly shocked.

As the fireball quickly made its way to Steven it had finally blown into a torrent of flames and black smoke leaving me choking on air, the air was tense and empty of noise save for the steady crashing on waves. As the smoke began to settle and the feeling of time seemingly slowing to a halt I could begin to see a feint pink light shining through the fading smoke. To my surprise Steven had seemingly been unharmed by the explosion thanks to some pink bubble that had protected him, from inside he had stood with his arms outstretched and his eyes shut tight.

A strong sigh of relief had escaped me as I was still held in the pale arms of Pearl, this was cut short as a strong reptilian hiss echoed from down the beach.

Rearing my head I had seen the Flaming Salamander slowly backing away keeping its single eye trained on all five of us, it's flames steadily burning low on its back as if to be ready to burn strong and bright at a seconds notices. Having seen this however Garnet had readied herself again for one final attack on the creature as she call out once more for her comrades.

"Pearl, Amethyst, let's finish this!" Having heard this Pearl had swiftly placed me on my feet and with a strong white glow she too placed her hand over glowing gemstone as she magically released a light blue spiralling spear from light, she gripped it strongly with both hand and then within a blink of an eye she sped forward to stand with the others.

As all three women stood facing the monster in front of them I could only stand in place with my mouth dropping from the amazing sight before me, even unknown to me my eyes seemed to be seeing stars as my pupils had taken the shape of one.

Everything fell silent as the next move was about to be taken.

* * *

 **Hope this isn't too much of a cliffhanger for you guys, I'm really trying to figure out how I can write an action oriented chapter, seeing as how those ones really are the more difficult ones for me to write so it might take a while.**

 **BUT FEAR NOT! I wanted to tell you about the other pen name I use, except this one is over on this sites sister Fictionpress. It's were I have my own original stories (that I haven't been paying much attention to but I really want to turn that around.)**

 **Just look up EcstaticWriter and hopefully you'll find me, I tend to do more fantasy based stories so I hope those Will be to your liking.**

 **See y'all later!**


	13. Chapter 13

"You were amazing!" Shouting out loud was Steven his eyes stuck staring at me while I sat speechless on this very familiar white sofa, that was for a little while served as my bed.

"I-I uh..." After all that had happened I was stuck still trying to get my head around everything.

(Flashback!)

Everyone stood unmoving just like before, the three women staring down their monstrous opponent with only the ocean waves leaving its gentle sounds echoing on.

As time crept on it was Pearl that made the first move, she shot forward with her spear in hand as the flaming Salamander hissed violently blasting torrents of flames from its back, this had left Pearl only the option to stop before colliding with the monster, yet with this new challenge they're plan did not stop.

Amethyst had gone unnoticed as she looped in from beside the monster as she flung Garnet forward with her full might as the larger Gem held her fist forward as she met her target square on the side, this left the Salamander launching towards the rocky cliff causing a powerful impact causing it to yelp in pain. Pearl had seen this as the perfect moment, the moment to end this before it could get further out of hand, she shot forward with her weapon in hand to slay the beast, but the beast too had seen this as an opening.

Before she could react to it the Salamander had opened it powerful jaws and shot forth a blazing orb of fire as it quickly made its way to Pearl, having only enough time to adjust her weapon she used it to try shield herself with little effect.

"Pearl!" Cried out Garnet, but this was drowned out by the fiery explosion that had sent Pearl flying back leaving her skidding across the beach before she had finally stopped, leaving a sandy trail leading to where she laid. Seeing this both Garnet and Amethyst began a hard pressed attack on the Salamander as it retaliated in full force.

As the battle before me continued I could only focus on Pearl, looking at her I could see that she was visibly struggling to get up, I had quickly ran forward ready to help in anyway I can.

Taking each step in strides I could only hear the sounds of the fight taking place to my right, ignoring it completely I had finally reached my destination as I stared down to her.

"Are you ok!" I shouted panicking, I've never seen anyone take a hit like she just did and yet to my surprise she began to pick herself up from the ground.

"(Cough-cough) yes...but you shouldn't be here, it too dangerous for a human." She groaned out loud, staring at her as she finally stood on her feet I saw that she had several scrapes and black soot marks covering her body but other than that she seemed perfectly alright.

"Pearl!" Cried out Steven as he had made his way to us, on instinct he leapt onto her leg holding as tight as he could. Looking down at him I could see that he was close to tears as he held on to Pearl, this was met with her kneeling down and placing both her hands on his shoulders with a soft smile forming on her face as she looked to him.

"Steven it's okay, I'm okay. But things are too dangerous right now." As if on cue another explosion took place from the fight not too far away, yet with this the smile Pearl wore still was there seemingly unaffected by the turn of events.

"But what happens if you or one of the others get hurt?" A panicking Steven questioned but with an answer was readily given.

"Don't worry Steven, we need you to make sure Matthew here doesn't get hurt and your the only one who can do that, we're depending on you to do this Steven." After hearing this Steven was quiet for just a second staring down to the sand, but just as quick he stared back at Pearl with confidence knowing what he had to do.

"Alright Pearl, you can count on me." Pearl seeing this gave a knowing nod as she stood up she stared strongly towards the monster that had been giving her allies a tough time, she stared at a steady stream of flames keeping the two gems at bay, but the flames were being thrown away from us and she knew she had a clear shot.

She shot forward for a second time with her spear forming once again in her hands as she charged on, except this time it was not met with fire as she hit her mark unchallenged.

"Ryaggghh!" The monster roared out in pain as on collision the spear had hit its mark, placing itself inside the beast as its spewing flames died out, half of its spiralling head was placed in the creature while the rest was held firmly by its wielder.

"Yeah! Pearls got it!" Screamed Steven, his voice filled with excitement, but his celebration was cut short as the creature shook its body furiously causing Pearl to jump back leaving a sizeable distance between her and the creature.

With rage swelling from the creature its flames too began to grow intensely, it's heat was so strong that the base of the flame had been gained a strong blue hue as even the sand around its feet began to melt.

With its sight glaring on Pearl it sneered in anger as its began to spew balls of fire towards her, with each shot fired time after time she had dodged each one, this had left the aimless flaming projectiles hitting empty parts of the beach and the water itself leaving burns and mist covering the area.

Noticing her distress, and the subsequent opening given to them, both Garnet and Amethyst leapt into action with Garnet taking charge and Amethyst following behind.

With a powerful uppercut Garnet lifted the Salamander off its forelegs as soon as contact was made, with its belly shown Amethyst came with her own follow up as she flung a boulder towards both Garnet and the beast but yet without even having to turn Garnet had known what was coming and had quickly dodged leaving a feint trail of sand behind her and the Boulder just barely missing her.

With contact being made with monster was knocked back hitting the sturdy cliff face with enough force that the Boulder that had sent it flying had even broken into pieces and. The impact was powerful enough to shake the entire cliff side leaving loose rocks to fall down to the beach with several falling onto the back of the Salamander, this had left it seemingly gasping for air as its flames seemed to be blocked by the fallen debris leaving only small bursts of smoke able to escape.

Staring at this as realization hit I looked over to the three gems as they stood properly regrouped, they stood ready for an oncoming attack from the creature who's apparent distress had quickly subsided.

"That's it..." I muttered out leaving Steven staring at me questioningly, his confusion drawn on his face.

"What's what?" Without even hearing Steven I closed my eyes tight shut, and with a fear induced sense of adrenaline I ran forwards knowing full well what I was running into, but also what I had to tell the three gems.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" I screamed out fearfully leaving everyone confused excluding the Salamander. Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet each held a surprised look on they're faces, leaving the Salamanders attention solely on me.

"Its weakness!" I shouted out waving my arms furiously with my eyes now open by this point.

"It's back! You need to plug it's back!" With my panicked screams each gem had looked over to the beast as its flames began to build up as it was preparing to blast flames towards me. Seeing this Garnet had quickly yelled out orders to both Pearl and Amethyst, hopefully catching the meaning of my ramblings.

"Pearl distract it! Amethyst circle around it as fast as you can!" Without hesitation both gems leapt into action causing Pearl to fire out bright blue bolts of energy from her spear causing the beast to switch it's attention from me to her, this left Amethyst free to fully circle it as she apparently spun fast enough that she had looked to be a spinning blur.

Without realizing it I had kept on forward leaving to grow closer and closer to the battle in front of me, thankfully though I had been stopped by Garnet as she picked me up bringing me far enough away from the fight leaving me in relative safety.

"Stay here we can handle the rest." She said as she lowered me onto my feet, she turned around to see that sand had began to surround the creature as it was bombarded by Pearls repeated energy blasts, she lifted her hands as she clenched them into fists as she prepared to charge head first into battle, but before she did she turn her head as if staring at me through her visors.

"You did good." She said with a smile as she leapt forth, I stood there still looking at the fight unmoving.

By this point a small sandstorm had surrounded the Salamander as it had difficulties trying to land any hits on either Pearl or Amethyst, both of which had been spinning circles around the beast. With its attention on both of its attackers the monster couldn't see where Garnet had stood, standing outside the storm she stood readying for her next move.

Clenching her fists tight she swiftly extended her arms out with both fists pointed directly at the Salamander, and for a second she had left her aim on the beast before she instead aimed it above, towards the face of the cliff.

"Amethyst, Pearl!" She shouted out as both gems stopped they're attack on the beast, they looked over at garnet knowing full well what she had planned on and as on cue they leapt out away from the Salamander, leaving it confused as to where they had gone as the sandstorm had left it blinded.

It viciously shook its trying to find its prey, with the storm easing it began to see a lone silhouette, with a low growl it stared on seeing the silhouette begin to take more detail. Within mere moments it had finally realized who it was staring down as Garnet stood ready for what was coming next.

To my surprise Garnet had shot forward, not herself though but her hands, flying through the air like missiles they shot over the Salamander passing it as they sped towards the cliff. With a powerful explosion the entire cliffside shook as entire chunks had been blasted off leaving them to fall conveniently over the monster.

Without time to react the monster began to be bombarded by the falling debris, this left it buried under a pile of rubble leaving only its head and front legs free as it struggled to crawl itself out to little to no success at it was buried gasping for air.

From the rubble came puffs of black smoke as with each gasp of air the flames from its back couldn't truly ignite, seeing this Garnet knew this was it that this was the final blow as a light began to glow from where her hands had been and seemingly from nowhere they had returned with both matching gauntlets.

With one powerful leap she shot high into the air causing her to seemingly shrink smaller and smaller to the point where she looked to be just a dot, but this quickly changed as with a loud boom she rocketed straight down towards the monster with her body straight leaving her fists leading her descent as she came down like a crimson comet.

With little time left the Salamander attempted a counterattack, it's fiery flame orbs that it had tried had instead turned to black puff of smoke as it laid buried under rubble, with panicked shake it tried its last attempt of escape. But this was truly its last attempt as it failed to free itself as it one eye stared at the crimson fists before everything had stopped.

With an impact that could be heard for miles a pillar of dust and rocks had erupted leaving a mix of white and grey smoke trailing off into the wind. As everything began to ease with the smoke clearing I could only see that only a single figure stood as they're victory had been justly won, Garnet stood holding onto what had looked like the eye of the monster as anything else of it had strangely vanished.

After it had all ended I could only stand there as silence took place leaving only the familiar sound of the ocean waves to accompany us, but this was quickly interrupted by sudden shouting from behind me.

"You were amazing!"

(Flashback End!)

Standing before me stood all three women who just minutes ago had fought a monstrous beast with Steven standing to my side with excitement emanating from his being, even his eyes had looked to be literally star struck.

"Nice call Matty, you really made taking down that thing a cake walk." Complemented Amethyst calling me by my new apparent nickname, she stood with a grin that held only excitement with both her arms stretched behind her head.

"Really?" I asked unbelieving, my face stuck with disbelief with the sudden praise that I had been receiving.

"Yes, rather if you hadn't caught onto its weakness when you did things could have truly gotten out of hand." Confirmed Pearl as she stood trying to brush off whatever soot she could from her smoked body, with visible unease she saw that this had little effect and just left it to be as she stood looking at me with a small smile.

Looking over to Garnet I could see that she still held that same smile from earlier as she towered above me.

"Matthew what you did was truly of great help and importance and we will never forget what you did." Looking around I could see that she had meant what she said, from everyone I could see they're smiles and appreciation for what to me seemed to so little when compared to what they had done.

"And with everything I could have seen you do, I wouldn't have thought you'd do what you did." I really didn't understand what Garnet had meant by this but couldn't help but let it slide by as one important question had crossed my mind.

"If you wouldn't mind could I just lay down for a while." I asked looking to nowhere in particular as everyone looked to me slightly confused, this left Pearl to be the first one to respond.

"Not at all."

"Thank you." And with that I had once again collapsed, falling asleep the second my head had landed on the pillow of the small white couch.


	14. Chapter 14

**Say hello to my over due chapter!**

 **Sorry that this one took a while, I was nearly done it for a while now but I got caught up on work so yeah...but it's here now!**

 **So please sit down and enjoy this chapter, beverages are on me!**

* * *

This felt like a...sunny morning. Today just felt good as I had just left the beachside house of Steven Universe as I trotted down the beach side, which is stranger considering the events of yesterday and my eventual day long sleep.

As I kept on down the sandy path I had seen the glassy reflections of the melted sand, looking down to these I was shown just how much of a danger yesterday had been as I looked down to a distorted reflection of me within the glasses sand. The trail of glass kept on until I had past the final long streak of glass from the corner of the rocky cliff, staring down to this I had realized just how closed I was to becoming roasted.

Feeling a sense of mortality daunt on me I had quickly left that thought behind me not wanting to linger on it anymore as I finally turned the corner of the rocky cliff, in doing so I had a wondrous view of Beach City as I had spotted several dots move across the boardwalk.

Taking in the view I began to remember all that had happened just yesterday, from the hot bright morning to where I walked down to the boardwalk where I had first met the monstrous lizards and the...the...

"The kid!" I shouted out remembering the small child who I had encountered along with the monstrous Salamander.

"Where was he?" I shouted out repeatedly with a tinge of panic that could easily be noticed.

Sprinting down the sandy beach I had ran past The Big Donut paying no attention to it, and Sadie who stood staring at me confused, instead I kept on down the boardwalk passing several other stores running to where I had first spotted the boy.

Stopping where I had first seen the creature I had noticed that I was standing in front of a small restaurant, 'Beach Citywalk Fries' was painted on its sign leaving little to the imagine as to what they sold.

Peering inside I had noticed that it was strangely empty, with only the deep fryers running unsupervised, this had caught me feeling somewhat uneasy thinking of the possible incidents that could happen.

"Hello?" I called out into the empty kitchen hoping for a response, this was met with a panicked rustling from behind a closed door, loud crashing echoed through the kitchen as an uneasy feeling came over me, feeling as though it was somehow my fault.

"Hold on, I'll be right there!" A young voiced called out as the noise of clashing metal stopped, running through the door a young boy appeared with several small metal pots and bowls following behind him, his dirty grey tank top partially covered by a slightly cleaner apron, he stood there staring at me with his eyes furrowed as if trying to figure something out.

"Wait, aren't you...?" He had asked quietly, unsure of who I could be, feeling like I should introduce myself I was cut short of a response as he had finished his own question as his eyes had open wide with apparent realization on who I was.

"You're the guy from yesterday!" He shrieked out as his voiced cracked, he held a single hand up pointing his finger to me, this had caught me off guard as I didn't know what he was talking about, the only thoughts that ran through my mind was the terrifying 'adventure' from yesterday, the battle that had pursued as I ran down the beach as I had distracted the Salamander from...from...

"It's you!" I shouted out lifting my own finger as I pointed towards the boy, this had left the both of us shocked, and looking rather awkward as we just stood there pointing towards one another.

"What happened? What did you do!" He shouted out asking both questions quickly, this had been followed up with a pause as his face had shifted from excited shock to a more worried look.

"What happened to 'it'?" Staring at him I dropped my hand to my side as I couldn't recall exactly what happened, for all I knew is it disappeared after the battle from yesterday, but what I knew for sure is at this moment the monster was gone.

"It's..." Looking down at him I could see that he was waiting for the answer anxiously, fear visible on his face as he stared at me waiting for me to answer.

"It's gone don't worry, it won't be coming back anytime soon." At this I received a sigh of relief from Peedee as his entire body had eased, leaving only relief knowing that the monster was truly gone.

"That's good to hear, I haven't been this scared since Frybo..." He said trailing off, shivering at the thought of some similar situation from yesterday.

"Hey uhh, I have a quick question?" He asked, staring at him blankly I could only wait for his question.

"Did Steven have anything to do with yesterday?" Blinking where I stood I had given him a simple 'yes' before a sigh left his mouth, looking at this I could only wonder why Steven being part of any of this would matter.

"Of course he was, he's always involved with anything weird." He said looking towards the floor, this left me firing several questions through my head.

'Does this happen regularly?' I said asked mentally thinking on the events from yesterday, thinking deeply I stood there ignoring what had sounded like incoherent mumblings, dwelling on the previously unbelievable story of the crashing hand and slowly believing it to be possible.

"Hello?" The boy called out snatching me away from my thoughts, looking to him could see a puzzled look shine across his face.

"Oh! Sorry did you say something?" Looking towards the boy I had only just noticed that I had been ignoring him completely this whole time.

"Yeah, it's just that we've been talking for a while, and without either of us knowing each other's name it's starting to get weird." Looking down to the boy I could only stand there thinking on my situation, and how this problem seemed to be happening frequently if not daily.

"Hehe yeah this seems to happen a lot..." I said nervously scratching the back of my neck, this had caused an awkward chuckle to escape which left the young boy to do the same.

"Well to start thing off properly, my name is Matthew, Matthew Corals." From learning this year the boy just looked at me before beginning his own greeting.

"Hello Matthew, my name is -" Before he could even mutter a single letter of his own name a loud voice called out from behind him causing both of us to jump with fright.

"Peedee, Who made this big mess!" Called out a voice from around the corner presumably calling for the small blonde boy, this questioned had been answered when he had turned around to look to the man.

"Dad!?" Squeaked out Peedee, his voice cracking along with his surprise.

Turning around Peedee had met the shocked look on the large burly man as he made his way through the door, the look of surprise however by this point had swiftly changed to a more questioning look as his eyes met mine.

"Mr. Corals?" He called out, his voice holding a sense of confusion, this mirrored my own expression of unease.

"Umm, hello Mr. Fryman." I greeted him while rubbing the back of my neck, staring back at him with a stressed smile his attention that had been on me swiftly switched to Peedee.

"So would you mind telling me where this came from?" He said pointing to the mess spread across the floor, his face with a look of seriousness that only a father could have, this left both Peedee and I feeling uneasy about the situation with a pang of guilt growing in my chest.

"Sorry Mr. Fryman, that was actually my fault." This left both fryers staring at me questioningly.

"When I came here to umm...make an order I had actually caught Peedee by surprise and accidentally made him drop those, sorry..." Looking over both men I could see that the look on Mr. Frymans face had eased all the while Peedee gave me a thankful look.

"Well if that's what happened..." He said whilst stroking his chin, his face became softer as he stared down to his son.

"Sorry for the inconvenience Mr. Corals, and sorry Peedee." With a collective sigh between both Peedee and I we both felt a small sense of relief as Peedee's father looked to his son with an apologetic stare.

"Well I guess I'll get to cleaning this mess, Peedee if you'd wouldn't mind I think Mr. Corals here was looking to get some grub." He finished with a smile, this in turn caused a small grin to form on Peedee as his father began to pick up the mess layer out in the floor.

"Sure thing dad." As Mr. Fryman began to clean they're small restaurant Peedee made his way to the front of the small fry shop.

"I guess I should be thanking you again huh Matthew?" He said which left me quite confused.

"Why would you be thanking me again?" I asked, this left Peedee to just simply chuckle as he turned around to see that his father who by this point made his way past the door and seemed to be focusing on cleaning and putting away the many fallen pots.

"For getting me out of trouble...again, for yesterday and just now. I mean after that giant lizard showed up I didn't know what to do, I was terrified, but then you showed up and just saved me without an ounce of fear." A sense of shock, adoration, and a little bit of disbelief formed in me, and after what Peedee had just said all I could do was look to him speechless.

"N-no prob." I blurted out without even thinking, this gave Peedee a small smile, and with a small moment of silence between us two I was finally asked a small question.

"What would you like to order Matthew?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Tick, tock, tick, tock..." The steady beat of a clock is all that kept on going.

"(Sigh)...I should just take the day off..." I begrudgingly said aloud to no one but myself as I sat in my small 'office' which is was placed in the centre of the large room. By this point no one had come over and all paper had been done and filed away, it had been like this for several days now and I was beginning to feel the slowness of time creep up on me.

As I sat I looked up to the clock which hung over the front door and felt a sense of dread overtake me as I saw that it had barely past noon as the clock laid on 12:08.

Knowing the lack of work that I would be facing for the rest of the day I decided to crane my head back and close my eyes and began to think on this past week.

The first day of work, which had been a Tuesday, was a relatively busy day. That day was spent placing and organizing the mass of office supplies that had been delivered were now properly placed and organized.

Wednesday was more or less just as busy, clients came over and we discussed on what insurance plans were right for them and further paper work, but as the days went by from Thursday to Friday things had slowed down.

I've spent the weekend releasing in relative isolation, as I was gradually receiving the rest of my furniture and personal belongings, and playing along on my own instrument. For an entire Sunday I've spent playing along with my bass guitar, it's deep chords playing along with the songs playing in my head, it's faded black body holding just as strong as the day I got it, that day seemed to past by too quickly.

Monday was spent walking around the entirety of Beach City as I spent the day taking in the sites and visiting familiar faces, and meeting new ones.

And now it was yet another Tuesday, but with today being a workday it was nothing like the day before, save for meeting the familiar faces of many. For the whole day I was looking over papers, filing them to order, discussing insurance plans, or just finishing off follow up for for the next week.

Each day after that though had each lessen in busyness, the following day about half the work from yesterday had appeared, then the day after the same had past, this kept on until Friday night when my weekend would start.

I was left to myself for the duration to the weekend as I spent those days receiving and organizing my personal belongings, from kitchen furniture to cutlery, and clothing to my valued bass guitar I kept on filling my home with what all that owned.

Then came another Monday as I spent that day laying around thinking on my life so far, the rough start that made me feel the pressures of moving and the thoughts on how one simple mistake can have such an impact to remembering the kindness that so many people had shown. So many thoughts had ran though my mind, catching my attention and slipping away as the next memory came running in, but after each one left I couldn't help but remember one thing.

The day that I had almost bit the dust, when a monstrous lizard that chased down the beachside and nearly left me well-done. That's when 'they' showed up, the three women named Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl who had saved me from the monster.

That entire day kept on appearing in my head, how the blazing heat of the fire came close to me to how Steven had even praised me for my apparent assistance in the fight.

"Huh!" I shouted out this had left me snapping out of my trance, looking over to the clock that hung over head as my mouth had dropped ever so slightly.

"It's already 1:30!" I shouted out, greatly surprised by how time seemed to be simply passing by all to suddenly this left me scurrying around in my chair, this though was a very bad idea.

"Ahhh!" Screaming loudly as I felt my whole body shoot backwards to the hard tiled flooring I quickly stretched out my arms to try and save myself from falling, this was met with aimless flailing as both hand were unable to grab hold of anything. Closing my eyes I had accepted my fate as I felt myself fall backwards, the fall was however cut short as I stopped mid-fall, looking down I saw that both my legs had caught on to the bottom of my desk and had saved me as I sat there sitting at a steep 90 degree angle.

"Phew..." I eased out, looking to my small black desk I stretched out my arms to grab a hold of it as I pulled myself upright as I looked to the clock again.

"I really should take the day off."

* * *

 **Well this was a super short chapter, but there is a reason!**

 **I had to and wanted to keep this chapter short cause I wanted to think on what else poor little Matthew could do and who he could meet, like the rest of Beach City's find citizens! Or even interact with the people he had already met...or just stick around at home and play his most precious instrument.**

 **Either Or, he'll have something to pass the time.**


	16. Chapter 16

**My first attempt at a song, hope you guys like**

 **it. Fun fact this song has some meaning to it.**

* * *

"I thought I was crazy, I tried to be lazy

I tried to sleep the days away, oh well what can I say

But then you came from out of the blue

Then you showed what I could do

'Just go out and say hi!'

The sunlight leaves me blinded

'It's easy to make friends!'

Each time I do I'm reminded

'Hey, get a look at you!'

How every time your delighted, each time I say hi

But now I'm stuck because of you

Wanting to say hi when I looked at you

And how I can't stop smiling because of you

With the friends I made thanks to you

The feelings I have because of you

Leave me smiling."

Staring down to the black bass that I held in my hands I could only let out a reserved sigh, staring at its age form as it faded body just had played its part.

The song had been played and the small echoes of soft laughs echoed through my mind, each having its own distinct difference yet each one was familiar.

I fall back onto my bed with my eyes shut, spreading my arms out they rested on the soft mattress with my guitar following down the right. As I laid there I couldn't help but think over the little time I spent in this little city, then to the rest of my life, on each year that had come before.

Without knowing a small smile had form as I figured out what I should be doing.

"Thanks Penny."


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this one, kinda have to do short chapters considering life things but that won't stop me from uploading when I can.**

 **Please enjoy this chapter as I really enjoy this new growing 'plot' I've cooked up and planned on.**

 **So without further ado, HERE WE GO!**

* * *

Without thinking I ended up here, I stood frozen not knowing what to do.

Walking down the stairs all I had grabbed before making my way down to the door were my phone and wallet, both were held in each hand as they swung with each step taken.

Making it out pass the door I quickly took a right as I made my way to the boardwalk, this seemed to be where I found myself spending the majority of my free time but this honestly didn't mind, it was a nice constant where I could find a friendly face.

The entire time that I had spent making my way down the street had been left smiling as I knew full well that I was going to put some real effort and try to have fun today.

'You can't have a fun day by lazing around!'

A familiar female voice rang through my head as I was travelling down the sidewalk, each step holding a sense of effort as each soft step lead me closer to the boardwalk.

Placing extra effort in my next step I found myself jogging lightly to the boardwalk as I had made the familiar turn as I met the entirety of the boardwalk as a soft ocean breeze danced around me. The sun had hit the entirety of the boardwalk with its light from the wooden walkway to the many businesses as each colour present had popped out as shadows were left to hide behind anything that could give it cover.

Walking past the fry shop where the Fryman's had owned I began to smell the scent of the deep frying oil that I would expect from a fry shop, yet noticing this I had heard another noise that had came from behind me.

Turning around I was pleasantly surprised that I had actually stood besides the arcade, staring at it I began to think on what games they could possibly have in there.

Thinking on wither or not I should enter the arcade however a voiced had caught my attention before I could even decide on the matter.

"Hey, your that insurance guy right?" Turning around I found that a teen had stood in front of me, his eyes covered by his own pair of glasses, these however had looked far more better then my own, and by the deep tint to the lenses it was easy to tell they were in fact sun glasses.

As he stood there with a bright red jacket which he wore over a white shirt which held a lightning bolt in its center.

"Umm, yes?" I answered confusingly at the question, this had given the teen that stood in front of me to look me over, staring me down as I wore a grey shirt with an exclamation mark placed on the left side of my chest and my relatively new pair of blue jeans.

"Cool, here." He said as he passed a small familiar flyer to me.

"There's a rave going on tonight and we're inviting all the cool people."

Looking down to my hands I saw the flyer that I held, it was exactly like the one that I had over a week ago that had told me about the apparent 'rave' that would be happening. Looking back up to the teen I could only see his invisible stare looking at me from behind his glasses, all I could do was mutter

"Sure thing." As he stood there with a small yet noticeable smile had formed on his face.

"Cool." Was all he said as he walked away...

"I'm cool?" Was all I could say as I stood there alone on that boardwalk, the sun beaming down soft light as my short hair danced lightly with the light salty ocean breeze.

The soft crashing of waves were all that I could hear as I looked to the ocean feeling an unknown emotion grow in me.

"Could be fun..." I say quietly not sure what to expect from tonight.

* * *

 **Please leave a review and even PM me if you'd like to ask me a question on anything about the story, little Matthew, or anything else in general.**

 **But more importantly...**

 **Smile!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey guys I'm back!**

 **Hope me you like this one cause that means we're one step closer to be finished with this 'story arc', and that means we're one step closer to more interesting stuff.**

 **So now, please enjoy!**

* * *

"Am I really 'cool'? That can't be...or can it?" I questioned to myself as I thought on my encounter with the teen that had happened just minutes before, the possibility of me being 'cool', a strained looked shown across my face as I stared out to nothing with only the ambient noise of the ocean waves filling my mind.

Looking up from where I sat I looked out to the vast ocean that laid out before me, it's salty breeze leaving me feeling exhausted and tired as the small piece of paper sat besides me.

"Why am I tired?" I asked myself, nothing today should have left me like this, all I did today for the most part was sit down, even now I was just sitting on a lone bench in the middle of the surprisingly empty boardwalk.

I didn't know how long I sat there viewing the pleasant horizon before me, I began to think on the day, and my song.

As I sat there looking out the the empty horizon I was taken out of my thoughts as a voice had suddenly called out from beside me. Reeling back from my surprise I quickly turned to face a new, but concerned face.

"Are you okay? You looked a little out of it there." Asked a women as she leaned forward trying to see if I were ok, she stood there with what looked to be a jogging suit which was covered by a white tank-top. Her dark skin had been covered lightly with sweat as she looked at me with a worrying stare.

"I-I'm fine! Hehe, I'm alright really." I squealed out, holding my hands up in front of me trying to assure both her and even to an extent myself that this was the truth, this seemed to not convince her however but surprisingly her face had slightly eased.

"Well if you say so." She said as she put her hands as she reluctantly left the issue while taking a step back.

As she stood there and as I sat in place the tension was slowly replaced with an awkward air as I began to feel unsure of what to do with the situation, but one thing came up to save me from figuring out the answer.

"My names Kiki by the way."

Looking to her her reluctant face had been replaced with a grin as 'Kiki' stood there.

"Hi Kiki, my names-"

"Matthew, right?" She said cutting me off.

"Yeah that's my name, hehe." Scratching the back of my head as I chuckled, this in turn caused Kiki to give a small laugh as I finally decided to get to my feet, looking to Kiki I noticed she was roughly a foot smaller then I as I had tilted my head down slightly just to actually see her.

"Hey, umm I'm sorry for interrupting you there." She apologized looking as if she had done something wrong.

"You looked like you were in the middle of something...so I thought I'd try see if you were alright." Her faced furled slightly, as if trying to hide a sense of guilt as she had apologized, this ironically left myself feeling a little guilty as well.

"It's nothing, it's just that umm..." trailing off I stood there wondering what it was that I had me so worried in the first place, looking around anxiously my stare landed on the piece of paper that had been sitting on the bench this whole time.

"I'm just thinking about what I should do tonight." This caught her attention, my eyes still fixed to the invitation that sat on the bench.

"I heard there's a party happening tonight and I'm actually stuck deciding if I should go or not."

Hearing this her entire face lifted with understanding as she smiled knowing full well what I was talking about.

"Ohh, you mean Sour creams rave huh...yeah from what Jenny tells me things do get pretty rowdy whenever he throws one of those."

"Who?" I asked not knowing either of the people she just mentioned.

"Oops, sorry Jenny's my sister and Sour Creams the one who usually DJ's."

"Oh." Was all I could say, knowing just a little more about my situation I felt a little more certain on what to do.

"Thanks Kiki, and sorry for the worry, I didn't mean to get anyone's attention like this." I said feeling a little better, and from Kiki's expression it looked like things were looking good.

As we stood there we were both startled as a voice loudly shouted from behind us, this voice was one that I knew and from Kiki's reaction it seemed like she knew as well.

"Kiki, there you are!" As I turned around I had spotted Kofi Pizza standing sternly in the doorway of his restaurant, arms crossed as his gaze was placed squarely on us.

"Do you realize how late you are for work?" Kofi called out leaving Kiki to quickly spin to face him.

"Sorry dad, I'll be right there!" She shouted leaving me surprised to know that he was her father.

She began to make her way to her father and their restaurant, but as she took her first few steps she turned her head to look to me.

"See you later Matthew!" She called out, waving her hand as she did so.

"Yeah uhh, see you later too." I mimicked back as my hand waved through the air as she made her way past her father who followed her inside.

Standing there alone again I turned to look to the ocean again, taking in the view as the rolling waves came in and out of the sandy beach line.

Then looking down to the bench I saw the small flyer still sitting in its spot, a sigh escaped my mouth as I leaned down to pick it up.

"This is going to be an interesting night."

* * *

 **So there you go, hope you guys enjoyed!**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you guys thought. Reading what you guys think about my story really makes my day, since I'm usually busy with my responsibilities and such I tend to get tired but reading those tend to put a smile on my face.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys, finally finished this one up and all I can say is that this one took a while to do.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy this chapter cause it was actually pretty fun to finish up.**

 **Have fun!**

* * *

"How far is this party?" I panted as I made my way down a dirt road, looking up to the star filled sky I knew it was getting late but it was too late to worry about that.

Looking back down to the road laid out in front of me I could see what looked to be a roof making its way over a small hill, and with each passing step a large building began to take shape as I climbed up the hill.

When I made my way to the top though I was surprised to see that the building was run downed as I saw literal pieces of the concrete building was missing leaving large holes littering it. Even with it looking the way it did though it was far from empty, flashing lights flickered as beams of colours shown out from the building leaving me certain that this definitely where the party was held.

"This seems..." I said trailing off to find a word to describe the scene in front of me.

"...interesting."

Making the rest of the way there, which left me feeling more tired then it should have, I had finally made my way to the building.

Standing directly in front of the closed metal doors I could hear the sounds of synthetic dance beats booming from inside, without noticing that my heart was beating along with the music.

As I stood there staring down the worn steel doors before me, I felt uneasy as even now I was still unsure if I should go in or if I should just leave.

Deciding on the latter I took my first step to the door as I reached out to push it open, only to be blinded by light.

Taking a moment to shield my eyes from the sudden assault of light my eyes began to adjust to their changing intensity. As my eyes slowly adjusted to the lights I could begin to see people dancing along with the music perfectly.

Seeing all this, and feeling completely out of place I couldn't move a muscle, stuck in place I could help but stand in front of the doors as I began to sweat.

"..."

Standing there awkwardly I did and said nothing, from where I stood I couldn't help but look away from the actual party, instead my attention was placed solely on myself thinking on what I was even trying to do here.

"Hey, your that Matthew guy right?"

"Wha-!" I shouted out, being taken out of my thoughts, this had taken the person who stood in front of me by surprise.

"You okay there?" She asked, looking up I could only feel a sense of familiarity with her.

"Kiki?" I asked not knowing if she was her or not, the resemblance was strong but there was a subtle difference when one would look closely.

"Kiki?" She replied with her own question, this left me slightly confused as to who she was.

"Sorry but uh you got me confused with my sister, my names Jenny."

After hearing this, and taking another look at her, I saw that she was telling the truth.

From her hair, which was well combed and looked more fashioned when compared to Kiki's more curled hair, she also wore a pair of rather large gold coloured earrings; a dark brown fur trimmed leather jacket was worn over a grey plain shirt that looked to be stained with red smudges; and long pink pants that was worn over a pair of flats shoes.

"Sorry uh, its just that you both look so similar and uhhh.." I trailed off, her serious stare turned to one of amusement as she let out a laugh which left me properly confused.

"Sorry Matt, I'm just pulling your leg."

"Oh, heh I was starting to think I did something wrong." I said sluggishly, this had past Jenny as she kept on laughing.

As I stood there I was left speechless, not knowing what to say or even do. This had caught on to by Jenny as she looked at me with questioningly.

"Hey you alright? Your really sweating there." At the mention of it I had noticed that I was indeed sweating...a lot. I looked at her and to the rave that was happening behind her, the blaring lights and intense music intensifying with each second was beginning to feel overwhelming.

"Uh, well I..." I quickly blurted out panicking, feeling my chest tighten I was left struggling to breath as her curiosity shifted to concern.

"S-sorry I, I just need some fresh air." Was all I said as I left hurrying to the exit, sweat pouring down my face as I heard a voice call out to me, but I didn't stop.

Making my was to the door I opened it as I turned to my left as I rested against a wall, breathing in the cool fresh night air.

Standing there I was stuck staring down to the ground, taking deep breaths as I did so. My chest had tightened as I was left easing the tension as I steadily calmed myself.

After a short while my breathing had slowed and the tightness in my chest loosened I pushed myself from the hard concrete wall standing fully without its support.

Standing there I looked to my right, I could still feel the steady beating of the music even through the concrete walls, then I looked up to the sky, stars were littered across it as each one shown brightly, this left me some time to think as a soft sigh left my mouth.

"What am I even doing?" I asked out loud, this question was left unanswered as I didn't even know what to do. Looking back down to earth the first thing I saw was the dirt path that I took, as I still felt the unease in my chest the first thing I did was take a step forward, and then another.

This kept on until I was making my trek back, back down to the city.

* * *

Finally making my way back to the outskirts of the city I was making way to head back home and was ready to leave this night behind me, left alone with my thoughts during this time as I was constantly asking one steady question in my head...what happened?

I was left alone with my question as I had no answer. I was slightly disappointed in myself, the thought of the night was still fresh in my mind as I was left tired from the entire day.

After a while as I slowly but steadily got closer to home I was taking by surprised as a vehicle had caught up to me, a familiar friendly voice called out to me by name.

"Matthew? What's happening there buddy?" Turning to my side I saw that it was in fact Greg who sat in the driver seat of his van, his face contorted to show of mixture of both curiosity and concern.

"Mr. Universe?" I called out, not even knowing why he was here.

"Its..." I trailed off, my gaze falling to the side as if to try hide my troubled look.

"It's nothing." Scratching the back of my neck I was left only able to hide my situation.

"Well if that's the case, it seems like a whole lot of nothing has you pretty down." He said with a knowing tone.

Looking up from the cement I looked to the older man, his face shining with a caring look, one that only a father could have...a face that I knew very well.

"...do you ever feel tired, even if it's for no real reason at all?" I asked, this question I asked repeatedly over this day, even now this question was nagging away at the back of my head.

"Sure, I used to be young too and I had my mind on a lot of things..." Stroking the steering wheel of his van a small smile grew, and his face softened as he did so.

"Sometimes the things you think on just get a little too big and all you can do is just keep on thinking, and then before you know it it's gotten to big to hold." Taking his gaze from his steering wheel he looked to me as if he went through all this before.

"Sometimes it's hard to let go of all the little things, sometimes it all gets a little too much but it's ok to just to take it easy and let go, its ok to just be 'you'." After hearing this I could help but look down, hiding my face from Greg, this left him speechless as I was left hiding my expression.

"...thanks." I muttered, taking my stare away from the sidewalk I looked back up to Greg, a smile fired fully as my eyes began to tear up slightly, seeing this Greg was left to smile as well.

"Of course, that's what friends are for."

As I stood there I began to feel a weight leave my shoulders, my eyes felt lighter as I began to feel more relaxed now to when I first moved here.

"It's getting pretty late Matthew, how about I give you a lift back home." Offered Greg as I looked to him.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Making my way to his can I reached out and open the door and sat in the passenger seat, closing the door her began to make way back to my home.

Looking out the window towards beach city as it was left glowing in the moonlight I couldn't but smile the entire time heading back home.

* * *

 **So what did you all think? Any good?**

 **Leave what you thought in the reviews and let me know what you liked, even leave some criticism in there if you'd like. I'm happy with whatever feedback you guys can give.**

 **Have a good time!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A nice little shorty to start of the day, hope you all like it!**

* * *

*Munch*

I sat there.

*Munch*

Enjoying my morning.

*Munch*

Having my breakfast.

*Gulp*

It's been two days since my escapades to the rave, and during those days I had kept on what little work was left for me to do and mainly kept to myself.

"Today looks good." I said looking to a window that I sat next to.

The day seemed like what most days seemed to be; bright and sunny, trees dancing with the cool breeze coming from the ocean, showing the natural beauty this city held.

Looking down to my bowl of cereal I felt a sense of relief grew as I thought on the day.

"Better get a move on!" I said feeling excited as I began to scarf down the cereal in front of me...

*Cough! Cough!*

That might have not been a good idea...

Exiting my house I took in a deep breath, feeling the clean ocean air fill my lungs I exhaled. Feeling refreshed I immediately made my way to the city park, taking in the familiar but still beautiful scenery I felt at ease as the serenity of the park was both relaxing and refreshing.

Taking a slow stroll through it though was just as nice as the air around me was filled with the smell of the many flowers planted along the paths as I walked down the stone path.

Making my way through the entirety of the park I stood behind what looked to be the boardwalk, realizing this I decided on making the rest of the way there as I usually did so, but was instead cut off suddenly as a voice called out my name.

"Hey Matthew!" Turning to my right I was surprised to see that it was...err, Kiki? She was running towards in the same jogging clothes she wore last time holding a surprising amount of pizza cartons, but not only that she held them perfectly balanced as she ran to me.

Coming to close she finally made her way to me as she ran in place looking to me.

"Uhh, hi?" I said confusingly wondering what exactly my situation was.

"Hi, sorry Matthew for bugging you but...I was (pant) wondering if you were (pant) heading to Stevens." Looking to her not knowing what to do I could only nod.

"Great! Could you drop this off to him, (pant) I'm running late and this would (pant) really help." Passing me a pizza box I could only look to her as she gave me a wide smile while continuing her run.

"Thanks Matthew!" She thanked hurriedly as she went off through the park as she held the pizzas perfectly.

"..." Standing there looking to the pizza that I held in my hand I could only now begin to realize what had just happened.

"What just happened?"

Taking notice of small written note that was stapled to the box I saw that Stevens name was written on it, full realization came as I knew what I had agreed to.


	21. Chapter 21

**And here we have a quick calm chapter.**

 **Sorry for taking a while on the update, I felt kinda bad not updating for so long but I was stuck with some things...but here I am!**

 **I have more hijinks in store for later down the line so look forward to those!**

 **Please leave a review or even PM me! I wanna know what you guys honestly think!**

* * *

Looking up the dirt path all I saw was the very familiar beach house, remembering it fairly well as it was the only house, other then my own, that I had actually been to.

"Well, I guess it's good to see some familiar faces." I chirped out, looking to the silver lining of my situation.

Taking a steady stride forward I could only feel the calmness of the ocean breeze as I took each step up the small hill.

As I made it to the front door I stood there holding on to the still warm pizza, the smell of which escaping the box and leaving me catching a hint of cheese.

Taking myself out of thought I coughed to clear my throat.

"Umm, pizza delivery?" I shouted.

"Coming!" Replied a young voice from inside, and from a likely guess I knew that it was Steven.

Hearing the pattering of footsteps from behind the door each one made its way closer to me I was slightly surprised by speed that door had swung open.

Looking down I saw the confused looked that Steven had given me.

"Matthew?" Was all he said as I stood there holding on the the delivery that I was, umm, trusted with.

"Wait you're our new pizza deliveryman! That's great!" He shouted out excitedly, his face changing from confusion to excitement as it brightened up at the thought.

"Sorry Steven, I just kinda got caught up in this situation." Smiling there I was left lifting up my free hand up as I shrugged as if to emphasize my point, not knowing even how I was put in this situation.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound as exciting but it'll do." He said smiling, thinking on it though, the thought of becoming a delivery boy, uniform and all, did earn me a chuckle

"So Matthew wanna have a slice or two." Offered Steven, a smile formed on his face looking to me as if wishing for a yes.

"Sure." I say heartedly, Steven beaming with a smile flies into the house, leaving me to follow him in.

Staring to the kitchen I saw that the pizza had been put down on the flat counter open, revealing the pizza that sat comfortably steaming in place.

Looking over to Steven I saw that he held onto a paper plate carefully placing a slice on it.

"And here's you slice." He said smiling passing me a slice.

"Thanks Steven." I cheered appreciatively, this led Steven to lift his free hand up and point to me jokingly.

"No prob Bob."


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey! Just a quick note I'm getting pretty close to the good stuff, and just can't wait to get this ball rolling.**

 **the story is finally getting somewhere that I wanted to be for some time, so hurray for that!**

 **Looking forward to what you guys have to say about this.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

We stood there enjoying the delicious cheese pizza, by this point however I had just started my second slice while Steven just got to the thin crust of his first.

"This pizza's actually pretty amazing, I should have tried this sooner." I said pleasantly surprised, this led to me catching Steven giving me a shocked expression.

"You mean this is your first time eating from Fishstew Pizza!" Steven nearly shouted, standing there I could only feel myself tense up at suck shock.

"Uhh, yeah?" I replied slowly not know what to expect by this point.

"They have the BEST pizza in Beach City!" Cheered Steven with excitement, this was slowly replaced with a questioning look.

"Actually..." He said tapping his chin.

"They ARE the only pizza place in the city..." Thinking on it he was right, with my time around the city and I just figured now that they were the actual sole pizzeria in the city...that must be pretty good for business.

"Hey Steven." Called out Garnet as if appearing from nowhere.

"Wha!" I cried out in surprise, standing to my left stood Garnet as she towered over me leaving me wondering how I didn't noticed her sooner.

"Hey Garnet." Steven replied casually unfazed by the sudden appearance of the giant women.

Turning to me she seemed to look to me with her ever present glasses.

"Matthew." She greeted politely, smiling as she did so.

"Uhh, hello Garnet." I replied still recovering from slight shock.

"Garnet?" Steven called out.

"Yes Steven?" She replied, looking to Steven he stood with a hint of concern.

"Are going to go look for Malachite again?" He questioned, this left looking to them both with my own question.

'Who's Malachite?' I asked to myself.

"Yes. We need to find them as soon as possible." She said assuredly, kneeling down to Steven she gently placed her right hand on his shoulder, then with a caring voice she began spoke.

"I know you're worried about Lapis, what she did was to keep you safe from Jasper..." Garnet had become silent, worry taking hold on what she was about to say next.

"...but Malachite is an unstable fusion created from hatred, if I we don't find them soon the consequences could be..." She stopped herself from finishing her sentence, stopped only from the look of sadness forming on Stevens face.

"I'll be back soon." Was all she said before standing and giving me a quick glance, a small quick smile forming as she turned to face the door making her way out of the house.

Looking to the empty door I could only stare in confusion, wondering what exactly had happened, and about what that smile had meant, this was changed to worry as I looked to Steven.

He held an expression of worry as he eyes were staring to the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked Steven, his gaze turning to me as an uneasy stare was quickly turned to the side.

"I...I should probably explain what's going on, I mean I was going to but I-I..." He began to stammer, my own thoughts began to wonder about trying figure out what he could be trying to say, all that kept returning to mind was the day that I had met the monstrous flaming lizard, and then to the repeated accounts of the falling hand...

Taking a step forward to Steven I steadily knelt down to him as we both met eye to eye.

"It's okay Steven, I don't need to know anything right now." I said assuringly.

"Really?" He responded with surprise, his face furled in question.

"Whatever any of this is about, the lizard or even that hand that I've been told of..."I paused scratching my chin, beginning to believe in what people had told me, but I quickly returned to my train of thought as I looked to Steven.

"But none of that's worth worrying over, considering what's happened to me so far I'm pretty sure I'll figure it out sooner or later hehe." I finished with an uneasy chuckle, the thought of the Salamander still fresh in my mind, a slight shiver went down my spine at the thought of teeth.

"Thanks Matthew." With a quick sigh of relief Steven looked over to the the side causing a look of surprise to form.

"What happened to the pizza?" Looking over to the counter top I saw that our half eaten pizza had somehow been finished.

"(Burrrp!)"

"What the?" Steven and I questioned in unison, the sudden belch had came from the other side of the counter.

Making our way around each side of the counter we both peeked around to see what had made that noise.

"Amethyst?" Steven said questioningly as we both stood there looking to the small purple form of Amethyst as she sat firmly on the floor, a bit of red covering the side of her mouth.

"Oh hey Steven, thanks for the pizza." She cheered as she took a glimpse towards me and took notice of where I stood, taking her arm and wiping away the pizza sauce from her mouth she gave a little smile.

"Hey there Matty."

Giving a small chuckle I lifted my hand and gave a small wave.

"Uh, hey Amethyst." Looking to her and then to Steven I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"How's the pizza?" With a simple turn she sat there staring at me with a subtle grin.

"(Burp...) pretty good." She laxly said giving both Steven and I a light chuckle as she began to pull herself off the floor.

Looking over them both, and the empty pizza box, a thought peaked my mind.

"Oh, sorry Steven but I should really get going." From this Steven looked to me with confusion, this was quickly switched with an understanding smile.

"Oh alright, off to go deliver more pizzas I hope." He said as I began to stutter out a response, this was met with a sly look from Steven, looking to him with realization that, his little question was a joke.

"Not for the rest of today..." I said trailing off, but with a half smile I looked to him with my hand fixing my short locks of hair.

"But maybe soon." Looking to both Steven and Amethyst and waved to them both.

"Bye Matthew!" Yelled Steven as I made my way to the door.

"See ya Matty." Amethyst said soon after.

With a simple wave I began to leave, making my way past the door I looked to the open ocean and began to take a deep breath

"I see things went pretty well." With a slight jump I quickly looked to my left as Garnet stood against the side of the house silently, looking to me with a knowing smile.

"Uhh, y-yeah..." I trailed off, a quick thought coming to mind as I looked to Garnet square in the, glasses?

"How are you quiet?" Looking to me Garnet just gave a shrug, her smile still ever present.

"I'm not that quiet, you just have to learn how to look." She said grabbing her glasses as she lowered them to finally reveal her eyes.

All three of them.

Then with a subtle wink and a grin she lifted her glasses again hiding her tricoloured eyes, one red, the other blue, while the one that layer in between them was violet.

"Yeah..." I said awkwardly as she let out a small laugh, this was oddly followed with a quick monotoned suggestion.

"You better grab onto the something."

"Wait wh-Whoa!" I was cut off as the everything began to shake, quickly taking hold on to the railing to my right I held my eyes closed trying to ride out the sudden quake as it began to ease up.

"Is it done!" I shrieked out, fearful to open my eyes.


	23. Chapter 23

"Hold on a second." Voiced Garnet, with both eyes still closed I didn't want to see what had happened, as I was left blind all I had was my hearing, even this left me questioning what was happening as the only thing I could hear was the pattering of what sounded like hail.

After several moments of the sound of falling debris was a uneasy moment of silence as a sudden grunt had left me to wonder what Garnet was exactly doing, this was soon answered as Garnet had finally instructed me to open my eyes.

"Howdy." Said Garnet as she stood closer to me from before, smiling as she towered over me.

A smile began to show on my face as I began to feel more at ease with the situation, the thought of some incident quickly vanishing, this was halted as my eye had caught a strange glimpse from the distance.

A large splash from well beyond the sandy beaches had left left me confused, the water had been shot upwards as if a cannonball had been shot directly down.

"Hey." I replied shaking, a slight fear holding on as I began to look around.

Nothing seemed to be really affected by the sudden quake, aside from my still trembling nerves nothing seemed to bothered from the earthquake, though as I began to let go of my hold on the railings I took a step to back onto some rocks.

"Hmm?" Looking down I saw that the deck had been covered by several small rocks, all of which had not been there moments before.

"What happened?" I asked, looking up to Garnet waiting for some form of answer.

"Something that we'll tell you in time, but not now you're need in the city." She answered, cryptically, this left me more confused then before.

"Why?!" I panicked, my voice breaking as my composure fell slightly.

"Don't worry Matthew." She said with a caring voice, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"When you get there you'll know what to do, everyone who needs you will be waiting for you so don't keep them waiting for too long." I could only stare up to her surprised, my worry was replaced with a sense of awe.

"...how do you know all the things you know?" I asked in nearly a whisper.

This caused Garnet to let out a soft laugh as she waved her hand slowly in front of my face.

"Magic." She answered simply, this left me feeling more at ease and in a way confident.

"Now go, people are waiting." She reminded me, taking note of this, I quickly nodded my head in agreement as I quickly ran down to the beach taking a running start back to the city.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey! Happy late new year!**

 **Sorry if this took a little longer then usual but I was pretty busy with life stuff, but here's the story so far!**

 **Enjoy the new chapter and thanks for the people who gave me their feedback about this story!**

 **Leave a Review!**

* * *

As I made my way down the familiar beach sprinting back to the city, I quickly took notice of the surprisingly good time that I was making as I made my way to the waterfront. Without slowing with a mixture of adrenaline, worry, and a semblance of courage keeping me going without a hint of hesitation.

As I came closer to the edge of the city I first noticed the Big Donut as I kept on. As I neared closer I began to notice two figures standing just outside of the small building.

"Matthew!?" Called out one of the silhouettes with a voice that I immediately recognized, the identity of the two became clear as I closed the distance.

"Sadie!" I cried out in response, as I got closer I began to finally slow to a stop, ending my mad dash in front of both Sadie and Lars; the latter looking more on edge then the former.

"What's going on? Is Steven okay?" Sadie quickly asked, looking to her I could only do one thing.

"(Pant)He's(pant) completely(pant) safe...(pant)" I said heaving in place, trying to catch my breath I looked around to see that the city looked to be safe with people going out of their houses looking around in confusion and fear.

Standing up looking to both Sadie and Lars I fully caught my breath before asking my own question.

"Are you both okay? Is anyone hurt?" I said looking to both with hope that nothing bad had happened.

They both exchanged a quick glance, looking at each other as if looking for an answer but they just stood silent.

"We don't know, we just left the Donut." Sadie said worried, looking to me with hoping with me that no one was hurt.

"Things can't be that bad..." As Sadie and I stood there we both looked to Lars as he stood with his back to us, looking to the city.

"If-if it was something serious we'd be hearing it by now." Looking past him and to the city I quickly noticed that what looked like to be the whole city untouched, and that the people who had left their houses had gathered into a fairly large group.

Walking forward I stood next to Lars, looking to him I had spotted a hidden glimpse of fear peek out as his face stiffened as he noticed my stare.

"I'm going to go see if everyone's okay." I stated quickly, this left Sadie to take a step beside me.

"I'll follow." Looking down to her I simply nodded my head as I started my way forward with Sadie following behind me.

"W-wait up!" Shouted Lars as he quickly chased after us.

Making our way up to the crowd I began to hear worried murmurs, plenty of familiar faces that I've seen before among them.

"What are we going to do?"

"Are we going to leave the city again?"

"Matthew?"

"What?" I called out, briefly noticing my name being called out from the crowd.

"Over here!" Looking for the familiar call I noticed who had called out to me.

"Kiki?" Looking towards the crowd I easily noticed her, having waved her arms past the heads of several people who she stood behind.

Making her way past the few people who stood in front of her she quickly made her way to the three of us.

"Are you okay?" Looking to her and then to me all I could do was nod in confirmation, then with a sharp realization a slight sense of worry took her.

"What about Steven?" Still looking to her I nodded once more, this left her to sigh in relief as the crowd behind her noticed us, but what was the most unsettling was the attention placed solely on me.

"Isn't that the insurance guy?" Called out someone from the crowd, this was quickly followed by mumbles of questions and then with agreeing chatter as the crowd began to become more riled.

"Do you know what's happening?"

"Are our homes safe?"

"Are we insured!"

A wave of questions came crashing to me, all of which had been repeated several times as every person who asked was left without an answer.

The pressure of it all left stammering unable to have a word in the matter. Being taken back each time as I would try answer one question another one would be asked and I would try attempt to answer them, but the cycle would only continue.

As I stood there stuck in a panic all I could do was look to everyone, unsure as to what I could do to help them, unsure if I could even help myself.

"Everyone hold it!" With a shriek I leapt back surprised by the sudden order that was shouted, looking to my side I saw that it was Kiki who had done it, her arms held forward taking the attention off of me and towards her.

"Please, everyone just calm down." She continued on, this time with a softer yet still confident voice.

"I know your all worried about your homes and your family, I am too, but you gotta give the man some air." With the attention of the crowd shifting from her to me yet again I began to notice myself, and my irregular breathing.

Everyone else seemed to notice this as their expression changed from that of worry to guilt, their faces having an apologetic look.

With the sudden silence that fell my attention was caught as Sadie took a few steps forward and stood next to Kiki as she looked onto the crowd.

"I know we're all worried but we can't get caught up in all this panic." Looking back to me she gave me a simple nod before addressing the crowd once again.

"Matthew hasn't been here for very long, but I know that he made it his point to meet every single one of you personally, so can't we just give him a chance to talk?"

Sadie motioned to me, the crowds attention following. Looking to each person in the crowd I began to recognize their faces, they were all in fact people who'd I met personally on that first day, and so on as we had met again as they came for an office visit.

A swelling in my chest was beginning to grow as they stood there, staring to me waiting for what I would say.

"Hi, I'm M-Matthew..." I panicked, receiving several sighs, the stares of many of the people looking away as if losing confidence in what I would say next.

Looking to both my side I saw that both Kiki and Sadie were looking at me, hoping for me to make everyone feel even a little safer, they looked to me as if they needed me to.

They both needed me. The crowd standing in front of me needed me. Everyone who needed me is waiting for me...

'Everyone who needs you will be waiting for you so don't keep them waiting for too long.'

'I-I know that your all worried about your families and your homes." I said aloud, holding onto what confidence that I had.

"I don't even know if this will all turn out okay, but, we can't be afraid about what could happen..." I said assuringly, their attention solely on me.

"But I will do what I can, for all of you. For your homes and your families." My confidence began to fall through, scratching the back of my neck on reflex.

"It's the least I can do, for what you've done for me." A shy gaze looking to both Sadie and Kiki, and a brief thought going to both Steven and the Gems as I smiled awkwardly.

Looking to the crowd as a silence hung in the air, they all looked to each other as the look of fear and worry they all held was replaced with peace and hope.

As everyone began to ease their worry I was repeatedly thanked by the crowd, who by this point was dispersing as they went about the day.

"Phew..." Relaxing in place as I looked to the clouds with an accomplished smile I was stuck staring to the soft blue sky, feeling confident in my words.

"Matthew?" Called out Kiki as she, along with Sadie and Lars, came to stand beside in front of me.

"Haaa...that was nerve racking." My voice cracking with tension as a smile began to grow on both Sadie and Kiki's faces, as Lars stood there with a face twisted in a questioning glare.

"That was pretty great, what you did for everyone. I'm pretty sure that's just what they needed." Looking over to Sadie I began to smile at what she said.

"You know we're pretty lucky to have you Matthew." Kiki chimed, as I looked to her, and feeling a slight blush at the compliments heading my.

"You make a pretty good delivery-boy." Looking to her she gave a small joking grin, this left me scratching the back of my head as I began to chuckle.

"Yeah, if I ever need a job I'll know just where to go." I said jokingly, this led Kiki began to softly laugh as Sadie followed suit, this caused a chain of laughs as I too followed along leaving me surprised at how such laughter started from such a little joke.

As the laughter subsided each of us began to calm down as we wiped away our tears I caught the stern stare that Lars was giving me.

"Is something wrong?" I cautiously asked.

"Yeah, it's just that something about you that's been bugging me." Looking to to him I began to feel a little worried.

"Yeah?" I asked shakily.

"Just how old are you?"

With a dumbstruck stare I could only look to Lars with confusion, the only thing that I could reply with was an awkward 'What?'.

"Now that you mention it..." Kiki said under her breath, a thoughtful look forming as Sadie followed with her own realization.

"Sorry Matthew but he does have a point, I'm actually surprised I didn't think of that earlier." Looking to Sadie I couldn't help but laugh nervously.

"Well, its not really a thought that really comes to mind." I chirped uneasily as I scratched the back of my neck.

After a fair amount of silence between the four of us as we stared to each other Lars was the first to talk.

"...well?" Looking to him, and then to both Sadie and Kiki, their expectant looks told me exactly what they wanted to know.

"I'm uhh..." I trailed off leaving all three expecting an answer...

* * *

 **Just a little cliffhanger for the road, but don't worry, the next chapter will be up a lot sooner then this one, like a lot sooner. And as a little heads up I'm planning on writing a new story for another show!**

 **If anyone's wondering what show that I'm talking about it's just the little action packed super powered show that's been bugging for a long while now...**

 **RWBY**


	25. Chapter 25

"I'm uhh..." As they all stood there looking to me expectantly, all I could do was stand there, my mouth hung open as I was left trailing off my sentence.

"Twenty." I squeaked out in a high pitch, this left Kiki, Sadie, and Lars all in slight shock, this had been pretty evident by the look on their faces as each of there brows lifted slightly.

"Your actually twenty?" Lars asked with a unbelieving stare, his arms crossed as he stood there looking to me as if I was lying. This left me scratching my neck, feeling a little off put from his disbelief.

"Yeah...I'm twenty." I said bluntly, eyes wandering to the side.

"But you're so tall..." This was something I had heard a lot.

"And dangly..." This one was a first.

Looking down to my body, my arms both hanging to my sides, as I began to feel self aware they both crept up to my shoulders holding me in shared anxiety.

"Ohh ease up Lars." Called out Kiki, this left me snapping my head up as Kiki stood there with her hands held against her waist, this caused Lars to be taken back as he began to look to both her and I.

"W-what, its true!" He stammered.

"He not that much older then either of us, he's only three years older then me!"

As Lars stood there with an exaggerated look, both his hands motioning to me, Kiki looked to both him and then me as she gave a small smirk as Lars exaggerated look changed to one of worry.

"Well you should be the one to talk." She said confidently, this caused Lars to reel back.

"Your looking pretty dangly yourself."

"W-what!" He shrieked, this caused Sadie, who before this point had been silent, to let out a light chuckle.

"She gots a point Lars." Sadie said agreeing with Kiki.

As Lars stood there stammering, trying to find the right words he was left looking to both Sadie and Kiki before letting out a defeated grunt before making his way back to the Big Donut.

As I stood there looking to both Kiki and Sadie all either of them could do was look to each other and laugh. Sadie then looked to me with a smile and walked to me with an apologetic look.

"Sorry about Lars, he can be kind of a jerk." Sadie said.

"I-its alright..." I said feeling a sense of guilt on my end, looking over to where Lars was as he just made it to the front of the donut shop still looking upset at what just happened, I looked back to Sadie worryingly.

"It's just that, dangly, was just a new thing people have called me." With this Sadie held a shocked look.

"What do you mean 'new thing'?" Kiki questioned as she stood there sharing the same shocked face as Sadie.

"Well, umm..." I quietly trailed off.

"It's just that I uhh, have several 'nicknames' that people gave me." And with a look of worry both girls gave me, I began to feel more aware of my situation.

"So your saying people call you names?" Kiki looked to me upset, she stood there with a face that caused me to lean back.

"S-sometimes..." my voiced trailed off shaking, looking to Sadie as she looked to me with worry instead.

"That's just not nice, it's flat out rude!" Looking to her as she began to fume up, I looked to Sadie with a pleading stare, she caught my look and began to look to Kiki as she hoped to calm her down.

"Uhh, I think we should calm down just a bit. Some of us aren't exactly comfortable right now..." From this Kiki looked to her as Sadie stood there twirling her fingers, while unknown to me she briefly motioned to me, Kiki caught this and finally looked to me clearly.

Standing there one could easily see both my unease and misery. Unease from causing the sudden reveal of my teasings, and misery from causing everyone around me to feel distressed.

"I-I'm..." Kiki trailed, leaving her sentence briefly unfinished.

"Matthew...I'm sorry that I kinda, lost it." Looking apologetically to me, her tense face easing to a soft look, as I stood there feeling more at ease too.

"It's ok...I'm ok, really." I softly said, looking to her as I let out a small smile she followed suit as she smiled along with me.

"Thanks." I said happily.

"No prob."

As the three of us stood there neither of us noticed Sadie, standing in place fiddling with her fingers looking quite antsy.

"So we're all good then?" She quickly asked, looking to her she looked like she was on the verge of running on the spot.

"Uhh, yeah, for the most part." I said quizzically.

"That's good, sorry but I actually need to get back to work." She motioned past me, looking back to the Big Donut I saw a group of people make their way to the front of the Donut, realizing her situation I snapped my head back to look to her worried.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you!" I shouted, Sadie began to inch forward slowly from a walk to a full on sprint.

"No, it's okay uhh, see you later Matthew!" Sadie quickly said as she began to run as fast as her short legs would let her.

"Yeah, bye!" I responded loudly, I was caught by surprise when Kiki suddenly spoke up.

"She seems to have the right idea." Turning around I noticed her slowly walking backwards.

"I should head back to Fishstew, pretty sure theirs some deliveries for me to make." And then without hesitation she turned around into a swift jog, looking back to me briefly smirking.

"If you ever wanna just call for takeout, Kay!" She cheered out.

"S-sure thing!" I called out as I quickly became the only one left standing along the boardwalk, looking around I quickly felt a little out of place standing alone, as an awkward feeling began to rise up I quickly decided to just head back home.

As I walked through the city back home, I found myself taking my time, taking in the city and my thoughts.

As the sun was growing nearer to the horizon it's light began to dim, and with a bright flash streetlights lit up.

Noticing the change in lighting I felt like now would be a good time to head home. Taking a quick stroll back to my office I made eye contact with it and blew a soft sigh of relief, but one thing caught my attention.

Standing under a flickering light stood a strange figure, its body seeming disproportioned to a normal person, whether it was from the flashing light or my sight alone I couldn't help but stop in place, unsure of what to do.

"H-hello?" I called out surprised by the sudden motion as it looked to me, as soon as it looked to me it immediately ran away making its way into an alley.

Looking to where it ran off too, I quickly took the chance as I quickly sprinted to the front of my home, quickly opening the door I ran right in and closed the door behind me swiftly locking it.

As I made my way back to my bed I couldn't help but feel unease from what happened, and sadly it took me too long to fall asleep that night.


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello everyone!**

 **Its been a while since I've update Matthews story but here it is!**

 **Please enjoy joy and have fun!**

* * *

Sitting in place I couldn't help but worryingly look around the room, fidgety from the thought of last night. I didn't know who, or what, I saw then and it kept on haunting me to even now.

My eyes feeling heavier then they should be, but considering the fact that I couldn't get any sleep last night, this was reasonable.

"I should just close early" I yawned out as I looked to the black clock that hung above the front door, it's diamond shape showing that it was 2:47 pm left me knowing that I wouldn't be getting any business.

It's been four hours and not a single client had shown, and all paperwork that needed to be done for the week was finished yesterday, and when I thought on it so was the entire weeks.

"Oof!" I breathed out struggling to stand as both legs had fallen asleep.

"I really need to get out today." I told myself as the feeling in both legs was returning.

(Knock, knock).

Came a knocking from the door, looking to it I couldn't help but wonder who it could be.

Making my way to my door I opened it and was surprised as to who was standing there.

"Oh hello ?" Standing there in front of me was a young mailman in full uniform, his cap holding in his brunette hair.

"Yes?" I answered slowly, this gave the young man a relieved smile as he began to reach into his sachtel to take out whatever was addressed to me.

"Here you go." He said, giving me a small parcel as he immediately began to rummage for more.

"And this." As I was given another small box which was addressed to me, then he began this again giving me several letters, packages, and a few more small boxes leaving me fully surprised at the amount of things sent to me.

"Uhh, thanks?" I told the mailman as the small tower of mail that I held had just reached my chin.

"Not a problem, I'm only doing what's expected of a mailman after all." He cheered as he pulled out a pair of sunglasses off his shirt and then placing it squarely on his nose with the words 'Movie' and 'Star' written on each lense.

"I'd shake your hand and greet myself but I'm kinda stuck here." I said jokingly, this however caught the mailman in a soft panic as he reeled back somewhat.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, my name is Jamie!" He nearly shouted as he finally introduced himself.

A soft chuckle began to leave me as I quickly took control of it and looked to Jamie directly.

"It's okay, this isn't my strangest introduction." I said confidently.

"And my names Matthew, Matthew Corals."

* * *

 **Well then, sorry if this feels somewhat short, but don't worry, Matthew will be having a lot to do pretty soon, just like was for like a month or two, and so with Jamie finally being introduced I feel like now is finally the time for some 'Excitement' and 'Adventure'.**

 **Don't feel too giddy, I've got a lot to plan for our little Matthew and each of the Crystal Gems!**

 **And if you guys want to give your own thoughts on the matter please leave a Review for this story or even PM me about anything you'd like! About the story, characters, or anything you'd like to see happen with them.**

 **Just like always, have a good Day/Night!.**


	27. Chapter 27

"Matthew?" Jamie asked with an amused smile.

"So your the one everyone's talking about!" He cheered loudly, looking at me with a wide smile.

"Yeah, I'm kind of surprised you didn't hear of me until now, considering I moved I not to long ago." I said, pleasantly surprised at the fact that he hadn't heard of me until recently.

"Well let's just say that life as an Actor is a long arduous journey." He lamented dramatically, his left arm lifting up to his forehead while the other hanged out in front of him.

"You're an actor?" I questioned with surprise as a subtle smirk formed on Jamie's lips without me even noticing.

"Why yes dear Matthew!" He nearly shouted as he went into full swing as he began to break into full drama.

"'Twas truest a journey of hardships, the world becoming but a passing image as I trudged on to my destiny." As I stood there he took several steps back fully entering 'The Zone'.

"The long trek to Kansas was held with such hope with bus after bus, my will never faltering." He said with strong vigour, both hands held together as fists as if ready to grab hold of his dreams but a slight look of sorrow over took him.

"But it did falter..." he said with melancholy in his voice.

"As the days went on, and my journey ending I could only think on what I had done, and what I hadn't achieved."

Looking to him I couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness take over me as my hands held on tightly to the packages that were in my arms, anxiously waiting for the story to continue.

Jamie noticing me, immediately looked surprised and immediately began to come back to the real world, a slight blush showing on his face.

"Oh umm, then uh after all that I ended up back here, got my job back and now I'm here!" He cheered on, looking to me he couldn't help but smile as he placed both of his hands on his hips proudly.

"That's a pretty interesting story Jamie, I've never been to Kansas myself." Looking to him I couldn't help but look down feeling a certain memory resurfacing, but was caught off guard when my gaze caught onto a letter that I held in my arms.

Looking back up to him with a soft smile with genuine happiness, I couldn't help but know that the letter had just made my day.

"But I do know a friend who did."

"Well that's sounds just terrific, but uhh.." he trailed off,

"I should really get started on the rest of this mail."

"Oh!" I said looking to his satchel, seeing that even with the amount of mail I held in my arms his bag still looked to be packed full of stuff.

"Of course! I'm sorry for keeping you from your job." With the both of us looking to each other Jamie couldn't help but give an awkward chuckle as I began to follow with my own neck scratching laugh.

"Well then, see next time you need your mail delivered." Jamie said as he walked off towards the centre of the city.

"Yeah, bye!" I shouted out as he made it further and further down the street making a familiar turn down to the boardwalk.

"Now then." I said looking down to my arms, my eyes resting on a certain letter.

"Let's see where you've been now." I said walking back inside, a gentle smile following me in as I read the front of the letter.

To: Matthew Corals

From: Penny Birch


	28. Chapter 28

Sitting down in the middle of a field, sun shining down with a soothing light upon a the young woman.

'Hey Matthew'

Her face stuck with a carefree smile, her hair with its auburn colour softly moving with the wind.

'I wish you could see all this'

With a glimpse up to the clouds, she fell back to lay on the soft grass, arms sprawled out taking in the view.

'From what I hear you've got a pretty little place to stay not far from home, I wish I could come visit.'

Laying there for what felt like an hour she finally stood up looking to her watch.

'Sorry for not staying in touch but you know how I am.'

Making her way through the open fields with a skip in her step she kept on.

'Hope you're doing well, I've been thinking up everyone up a letter but got started first on yours like usual.'

Making her short trek across the countryside she finally made it to a road, looking to her left she could see a small quaint town in the distance.

'My parents still worry about me but they know what I'm doing, and honestly they still worry about you too.'

Making her way to the small town, her hands gripping her backpack, she dawdled around, taking in the views and occasionally taking photos of the town.

'Its kinda weird, I'm almost out of the country and I don't feel anywhere near done yet, is that weird?'

(A soft chuckle could be heard.)

After finally taking in the entirety of the town she finally hoofed it to look for a specific place.

'Well by the next time I write you you can be sure I'll be out of the country entirely, I'm getting giddy just thinking about it!'

Making a turn a large grin took over her face as she brushed hair out of her face, making a short jog she finally made it to a post office, she quickly ran into the building pulling out a large handful of letters.

'Well sorry for such a short letter this time but my bus is almost here.'

Quickly with a lick of a stamp she deposited her letters and ran out the door making her way down the street.

'I'll be sure to write your parents as well so they'll know how well I'm doing. Make sure to keep them in the loop with how your doing too, please?'

Making her way to a bus station she quickly pulls out a small slip of paper and waits excitedly.

'Well anyways, I hope your happy and healthy, and that you've made a bunch of friends.'

With a small smile as a bus pulls up in front of her she looks to the small town quickly and then boards the bus.

'Love, Penny.'

'P.s. If you've found a special someone in your life, give me all the details!'

(An audible groan could be heard.)


End file.
